Speaking to reporters in New Jersey after meeting Zelensky at the Vatican on Saturday, Trump said he was “disappointed” that Russia continued to attack Ukraine.
Asked whether Zelensky would accept giving up Crimea – seized by Russia in 2014 – Trump replied: “Oh, I think so, yeah. Look, Crimea was 12 years ago.”
He added that former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden “let Crimea go without a shot being fired” and that “this is Biden’s war, not Trump’s. I came in to try and solve a problem.”
Trump’s comments came amid a U.S. proposal, reportedly under discussion with Moscow and Kyiv, that Washington recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea and tacitly accept its control over other occupied regions in exchange for a ceasefire and broader peace deal.
European and Ukrainian leaders have pushed back, insisting that territorial questions be deferred until after hostilities end.
“I see [Zelensky] as calmer,” Trump said of the Ukrainian president. “I think he understands the picture, and I think he wants to make a deal.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC’s Meet the Press that Washington could “walk away from this process” if Russia and Ukraine fail to reach agreement soon.
“It needs to happen soon,” Rubio said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, defended recent strikes on Kyiv as targeting “sites which are used by the military” and said Moscow remained “ready to reach a deal” with the United States, though details would stay confidential until negotiations conclude.
Zelensky, who reported nearly 70 Russian attacks on Sunday, wrote on Telegram that “there is currently insufficient pressure on Russia from the world to end this war,” and reaffirmed his readiness to resume talks “any time and in any convenient format.”
Not all U.S. lawmakers share Trump’s approach. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned on CNN that “to just abandon Ukraine […] would be a moral tragedy,” while German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Ukraine should reject proposals seen as conceding too much territory for a ceasefire.
(jh)
Source: Reuters, BBC, PAP