On Tuesday it was reported that the United States is mulling recognizing the Crimean region, a coastal area along the Black Sea, as Russian territory. The consideration comes as peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, brokered by Washington, are moving into their final stages. Ukrainian Dictator Vladimir Zelensky however quickly came out to say he would reject allowing Russia to keep Crimea. Trump indicated that he will soon give up brokering peace between the warring Slavic nations if his efforts do not result in a deal.
This proposal is expected to be discussed in London later this week with officials of various Western nations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg are reported to be in attendance, set to meet with foreign ministers and security advisers from France, Germany, the U.K. and Ukraine. Witkoff is also expected to visit Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as well. It is however unclear if the Moscow trip will take place before or after the London meeting.
Despite Crimea officially joining Russia via a 2014 referendum vote, Zelensky says he will never accept it. The Dictator said the war will go on until he can have everything he wants.
“[Crimea] is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine. We have nothing to talk about on this topic, it is outside our constitution,” Zelensky said.
That wasn’t all however, the Dictator even placed the blame on Russia for his own lack of ability to compromise by saying that this is what they want.
“As soon as we start talking about Crimea, about our sovereign territories, we enter the format of prolonging the war,” he said.
President Donald Trump said he will be giving details of his peace plan this week.
“I will be giving you a full detail over the next three days,” Trump said. “But we had very good meetings on Ukraine, Russia … We’ll see how that works.”
The New York Post claimed that “one senior administration official told The Post they may include deploying European forces to Ukraine should an end to the war and cease-fire be reached,” yet the outlet didn’t specificity who that official was.
One dire detail however is that Trump said he will walk way from the peace negations if no progress is made soon.
“Donald Trump has said the U.S. will ‘take a pass’ on brokering further Russia-Ukraine talks if Moscow or Kyiv ‘make it very difficult’ to reach a peace deal,” the BBC said Friday. “The U.S. president told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he was not expecting a truce to happen in ‘a specific number of days’ but he wanted it done ‘quickly’. His comments came hours after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. would abandon talks unless there were clear signs of progress within days.”
“We’re not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end,” Rubio said, stating that Washington has “other priorities to focus on”.
Trump’s frustration of Zelensky’s lack of acceptance to peace was on full display in late February when the Dictator went to Washington D.C. and disrespected America in the White House.
The President denied the Dictator’s request to return to the White House, adding his Ukrainian counterpart must first “want peace” before negotiations continue.
“He’s got to say ‘I want to make peace,’” said Trump. “[Zelensky] doesn’t have to stand there and say ‘Putin this and Putin that,’ all negative things.”
WATCH IN FULL: President Donald J. Trump speaks to the press on the South Lawn of the White House pic.twitter.com/49lQwAi8dM
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 28, 2025