Washington, Aug 10: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that a settlement to end Russia’s war on Ukraine could involve “some swapping of territories,” ahead of a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an undisclosed location.
“We’re going to be announcing later, and we’re going to have a meeting with Russia,” Trump told reporters at the White House, without elaborating on which territories might be included in the proposal. Russia has occupied about one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
The remarks came as Trump’s efforts to pressure Moscow into halting fighting have so far failed. He has brought forward a deadline to impose additional sanctions on Russia if no progress is made toward a settlement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out ceding sovereign land, saying in May that Kyiv would only discuss territorial issues after Russia implements a full, unconditional ceasefire. Moscow has demanded Ukraine withdraw troops from four occupied regions, opposed its NATO membership, and called for several major Ukrainian cities to be handed over to Russia.
Ukrainian military commanders have dismissed negotiations under current conditions. “It is impossible to negotiate with them. The only option is to defeat them,” said Buda, a commander in the Spartan Brigade, citing Russia’s unwillingness to compromise. The Institute for the Study of War said this week that Putin remains uninterested in ending the war and is seeking concessions from Washington without entering a meaningful peace process.
Trump’s comments on Ukraine came shortly after he hosted the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for a peace summit aimed at ending nearly 40 years of conflict between the former Soviet republics and reopening transportation routes in the South Caucasus.
