Donald Trump could recognise Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and other occupied territories in an appeasement of the Kremlin’s key demands for a peace deal, according to a report.
The US president is said to have sent special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to Moscow with the expressed intention of offering Vladimir Putin US recognition of the occupied territories in return for a peace deal.
A source told The Telegraph: “It’s increasingly clear the Americans don’t care about the European position. They say the Europeans can do whatever they want.”
Russia has refused to budge on its maximalist demands for a deal to end their war in Ukraine. On Thursday, Putin said his forces would fight on “until the last Ukrainian dies”, in chilling comments that underlined Moscow’s reluctance to engage with the peace process. Meanwhile, Europe has been making the case to Washington that Kyiv must have territorial sovereignty and security guarantees in any agreement.
Putin said on Thursday that Washington’s legal recognition of Crimea and the Donbas as Russian would be in focus when Russian officials speak with Witkoff next week.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Ukraine’s top negotiator, Andriy Yermak, said in his swan song interview before resigning on Friday that Zelensky would never allow Ukraine to cede land to Russia and “not a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory”.
Ukraine has been engaging in attempts to find an agreeable solution to end the war, but has repeatedly ruled out handing over what it still holds of the Donbas, its eastern industrial heartland that is coveted by Putin. Zelensky’s government is bound by its constitution not to give it up.
The original 28-point plan floated by the Trump administration suggested Washington could recognise Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk as de facto Russia. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would be recognised de facto Russian along frozen frontlines.
Europe was incensed by the brash offer to effectively hand away Ukraine’s territory and shot back with a counterproposal last week that negotiations should start from frozen lines.
Kyiv and the US worked to iron out fundamental differences over the weekend and both delegations came away hailing progress. But Russia still has to agree to terms, and remains obstinate on the issue of giving back territory it has captured since the war began in February 2022.
“Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they hold, and then the fighting will cease. If they don’t leave, then we shall achieve this by force. That’s it,” Putin said on Thursday.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Moscow is working on the assumption that it is negotiating a peace plan solely with the United States.
Russia also expects to have information on the agreed points of a proposed peace plan by the time Witkoff and his delegation arrives next week, Interfax reported.
Kyiv kept up the pressure on Friday as Russia’s defence ministry reported having shot down 136 drones over several regions including the annexed Crimean peninsula overnight. Damage to cars, residential buildings and houses was reported by local authorities in Russia’s Rostov and Voronezh regions.
Russia meanwhile continue to claim gains in and around the beleaguered city of Pokrovsk. Putin said on Thursday that Russian forces were now in control of 70 per cent of the vital transport hub. On Friday, the defence ministry said Ukrainian troops had been cleared from more than 6,500 buildings in the last week as fierce fighting raged.
Moscow has been trying to take full control of Pokrovsk since mid-2024 as part of its push to take the whole of the wider Donbas industrial region.
