Donald Trump has said he thinks Volodymyr Zelenskyy is willing to give up Crimea to Russia as part of a ceasefire deal, despite his Ukrainian counterpart previously saying that surrendering the land has always been a red line.
Asked by reporters on Sunday if Zelenskyy was ready to “give up” Crimea, the US president said: “Oh, I think so.”
The US is ramping up pressure on Russia and Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire deal to end the war. The deal included the formal surrender of Ukrainian territory to Russia, something vehemently rejected by Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people.
“There is nothing to talk about — it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month.
Speaking to reporters in the US, Trump struck a different tone: “I think he understands the picture, and I think he wants to make a deal.
“Crimea was given away by Barack ‘Hussein’ Obama and by Biden. That’s 11 or 12 years ago, that’s a long time ago. I don’t know how you can bring up Crimea because that’s been a long time.”
Giving up the land that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 would require a change to the Ukrainian constitution and a nationwide vote. Lawmakers and the public are firmly opposed to the idea.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” said Oleksandr Merezkho, a lawmaker with Zelenskyy’s party. “We will never recognise Crimea as part of Russia.”
Unlike a territorial concession, a formal surrender would permanently relinquish Crimea and abandon the hope that Ukraine could regain it in the future.
The Ukrainian public largely understands that land must be ceded as part of any armistice because there is no way to retake it militarily. Polls indicate a rising percentage of the population accepts such a trade-off.
Trump and Zelenskyy had their first face-to-face meeting at Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday, their first since their heated Oval Office exchange.
“He told me that he needs more weapons, but he’s been saying that for three years,” Trump said of their meeting.
Trump said he had been surprised and disappointed by Russia during the peace negotiations, specifically after the missile strikes earlier this month on both Sumy and Kyiv.
“Stop shooting, sit down, and sign a deal,” Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin as he spoke to reporters.
Trump cast further doubt on Russia’s commitment to a peace deal as he flew back from Italy.
Posting to his Truth social media platform, the US president wrote: “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days.
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
Speaking to reporters in Rome, Zelenskyy described his meeting with Trump as “productive”.
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