Trump says ‘Crimea will stay with Russia’ as peace deal efforts face deadly strikes

As violence grows worse and peace talks continue between Ukraine and Russia, a recent statement by President Donald Trump about the Crimean Peninsula has caused major disagreement. Trump claimed that Crimea will stay under Russian control, a position that could mark a shift from long-standing U.S. policy and has sparked strong reactions from different groups involved in the conflict.

Trump’s statement is part of a larger peace proposal that was reportedly shared in London. According to reports from American and European officials, this proposal would involve the U.S. officially accepting Crimea as part of Russia, as reported by the U.S. Military and Fox.

This part of the plan has faced heavy criticism, especially from former diplomat Daniel Fried (per NY Times), who called it the most troubling aspect of the proposal. Fried argued that while it might make strategic sense to accept the reality of Russian occupation in some parts of Ukraine, officially recognizing a border change that was achieved by force would create a risky precedent. This view matches a previous “Crimea Declaration” made in 2018, which restated the principle that no country should be allowed to change another country’s borders by military means.

US still wants Ukraine to give up Crimea to Russia

Ukraine strongly rejects the idea of recognizing Russia’s claim over Crimea. President Zelenskyy has made it clear that this is unacceptable and goes against Ukrainian law. Although Trump later tried to clarify his position, saying that his proposal did not force Ukraine to accept Russian control over Crimea, the Ukrainian government has not changed its stance.

Samuel Charap of the RAND Corporation doubt whether this kind of concession would be useful. Charap pointed to the Welles Declaration, which refused to recognize the Soviet Union’s occupation of the Baltic States, as an example. He noted that this did not stop later cooperation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union or the eventual end of the Cold War. Whether this strategy would work in the long run is still being debated.

Meanwhile, violence in the region has sharply increased. A recent drone strike in Pavlohrad killed civilians, including a child and an elderly woman. This attack came after heavy shelling in Kyiv that caused many casualties and even led to a rare criticism of President Putin by President Trump. The ongoing fighting shows how difficult it will be to reach a peaceful agreement.

The Trump administration’s current approach is also facing pressure from within. Senior officials have reportedly warned that if no agreement is reached, U.S. military aid to Ukraine could be cut off. This possibility makes the situation even more complicated and adds pressure on all sides to find a solution.

Trump’s representative, Steve Witkoff, met with President Putin in Moscow as part of ongoing talks to negotiate a peace deal. While these meetings show that discussions are still happening, no major progress has been made yet. Accusations that Russia is deliberately delaying talks and seizing more land continue, making it harder to trust the peace process. Ukraine had already accepted a U.S. ceasefire proposal weeks earlier, but Russian attacks kept happening, showing how deep the distrust between the two sides runs