Trump May Recognize Crimea as Part of Russia in Possible Ukraine Peace Deal

The administration of US President Donald Trump might consider recognizing the annexed Crimea peninsula as part of Russia as part of a potential peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

According to the sources cited by Semafor, the White House is also discussing the possibility of requesting the United Nations to officially recognise Crimea as Russian territory.

The White House has declined to comment on the matter.

However, after the article was published, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes reached out to Semafor, stating that the administration had “made no such commitments” and would not negotiate the deal “through the media.”

Trump administration officials have openly discussed the idea that Ukraine may need to cede territory to Russia as part of a peace deal to end the three-year war.

Years before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Trump himself had already suggested the possibility of recognizing Crimea as part of Russia.

During his 2016 presidential campaign and later in his first term, he repeatedly stated that he would “look at” whether the US should take that step.

“The people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were,” Trump said in an interview with ABC News in 2016.

However, since taking office, Trump’s advisers have largely kept quiet about the specifics of any potential offer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Trump and Putin are scheduled to hold a highly-anticipated phone call Tuesday to discuss the Ukraine war, with Kyiv and its European allies calling for Russia to a US-proposed ceasefire.  

The Kremlin said the call will take place “from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Moscow time” (1300 to 1500 GMT) -- giving, unusually, a precise time.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the leaders will discuss Ukraine and the “normalization” of US-Russia ties, with Trump’s previous call to Putin ending the Kremlin chief’s isolation during the Ukraine invasion. 

Trump said Monday he would discuss issues of “land” and “power plants” with Putin – a possible reference to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, that fell to Russia in the first days of its invasion of Ukraine.

“We will talk about land. We will talk about power plants,” Trump said when asked about possible compromises from both sides.

He said both sides had already discussed “a lot” and that the pair will also talk about “dividing up certain assets.”

White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said on Monday that the US and Russia are very close to reaching a peace agreement on Ukraine. She claimed that Trump is prepared to use pressure on Moscow if the call with Putin does not yield the expected results.