President Trump on Wednesday slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for rejecting the idea of Ukraine recognizing Crimea as Russian, saying the comment is hurting the peace process.
“This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Nobody is asking Zelensky to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired? The area also houses, for many years before ‘the Obama handover,’ major Russian submarine bases,” the president added.
Trump said that “inflammatory statements” like Zelensky’s were prolonging the war. “He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,” he said.”
The spat over Crimea comes amid reports that said the US has put forward a potential ceasefire deal that would involve the US recognizing the peninsula as Russian territory. According to Axios, the deal would also involve freezing the battle lines, meaning Russia would keep the territory it currently controls.
The US would also lift sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 and guarantee that Ukraine wouldn’t join NATO. Ukraine would receive some sort of security guarantees, the details of which are unclear, a small part of the Kharkiv Oblast that’s currently occupied by Russia, unimpeded access to the Dnieper River, and assistance for reconstruction. The deal also proposes that the US would operate the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control.
According to Axios, the potential deal was presented to Ukraine as a “final offer,” meaning if an agreement isn’t reached or progress isn’t made, the US could walk away from negotiations.
Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday called for Ukraine and Russia to accept the proposal. “We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process,” he said.
“The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine,” the vice president added.
“This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Always the "unifier". How about just mentioning the referendum. Damn, his shit gets old.
He is playing the same dirty game with Iran. For domestic sand MAGA consumption he is negotiating with Iran for "peace not war", yet at the same time sends heavier cluster bombs to Israel saying "You do it alone".
Then when chaos results he steps in and becomes the "peace president" again.
Yes, this stuff is getting very old. Yet MAGA believes it. Read today by a MAGA essay writer that Trump is the only person to make America the ruling power of the 21st Century again. They believe it.
Missing the point is Trump’s specialty.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine want peace (Trump interpretation) or ceasefire (Russia interpretation)… So all the pressure Trump is exerting would become farts out of his ass…!
out of his mouth…..
Well, it'as pretty obvious nobody is Really on the line for Peace.
So, live by the sword, die by the sword! The devil take them then.
Trump blames everyone for his diabolical gambits aimed at destroying Nato and the US.
Destroying NATO would be a good thing.
Okay comrade moron.
Ah, comrade. How original. Wanting a belligerent obsolete military alliance to be vanquished must mean I'm what, pro Putin? And you call me a moron?
Your history dictates your Cossack sucking skills, as does your vodka abuse dictates your brain damage.
Point some of those "Cossack sucking skills" out to me. My profile is wide open. And I don't drink. Maybe you're projecting.
Zelensky can't recognize Crimea Russian for the same reason why Trump can't recognize Donbass Russian. A peaceful settlement of the conflict is not what the western militaristic elites are looking for. They need only a temporary ceasefire with a open door for new provocations and further escalations.
Do you live in Russia
Typical USA. You better accept what we order or we either walk away or bomb the heck out of you – Kapish?
Return or no return of Crimea is a non-simple issue including where borders were once drawn. It was long part of the Ottoman Empire and was wrested away from it mainly by Russian armies. Crimea was next and for long a part of Czarist Russia, then of the Soviet Union. However, it is obviously an appendage of Ukraine and not of Russia. Geographic logic makes it part of Ukraine. Other than that I see no logical claim for it by Ukraine.
Crimea's largest value lies in its military control of the Black Sea. It has perhaps the best naval port and base of that sea at Sevastopol. Before Putin took Crimea there was a Russo-Ukrainian agreement on the sharing of that facility.
Russia can never accept the possibility that Crimea becomes a base for an unfriendly power and that includes NATO. The 2014 coup in Ukraine moved Ukraine hence Crimea in the direction of NATO which must have been a major cause for Putin's speedy takeover.
It is now in a status for which I do not know a sane solution.
Crimea was part of Russia until 1954 when khrushchev, with the stroke of a pen, made it Ukrainian… legend says after losing a game of poker to Ukrainian officials. But the overwhelming majority of Crimean residents are ethnic Russians and they have made their desire to be part of Russia very clear.
The US, NATO, and most of EU countries set a precedent with Kosovo in 1999. According to that precedent, Crimea has every right to secede from Ukraine and join Russia… which is what they did. Western powers have become sheer hypocrites on the subject of Crimea. But, to be honest, so is Russia since it has not recognized Kosovo's independence.
It was, Putin said it himself. However, it was also the wish of Crimeans.
I do. Recognize the right of Crimeans to choose for themselves which country they want to belong to. Have the UN organize a referendum with all sides agreeing to respect the outcome. Not that Zelensky or the EU or the American deep state would ever accept such a referendum because they know damn well what the outcome would be.
It strikes me that Trump is talking about the conflict as simply a war between Ukraine and Russia, as if America had absolutely nothing to do with it, as if Washington didn't instigate it with NATO's expansion and the 2014 coup and an endless supply of military equipment and money.
It's like the idiot has misdiagnosed the cause and is now attempting to misapply the wrong remedies. I don't see how this is gonna result in peace, but I hope I'm wrong.
Misdiagnosed yes, but maybe the right remedy. Its an impatient but clear and unusually reasonable position from Trump's guys.
The right remedy would be a complete 180° turn on decades of US foreign policy. The fact that the US is still providing weapons and intelligence (and who knows what else) to Ukraine tells me that there has been no such U-turn. Nor do I think that Trump has control of the US foreign affairs apparatus and deep state to effectuate said U-turn.
I'm in agreement with the position that this Administration just wants to put the Russia/NATO situation on the backburner for a while in order to focus more on the "China threat". The basic attitude of there being a Russian "aggression/imperialism" motive going on seems to be still there in their minds.
The Russian aggression/imperialism is pure fiction, but they use it as a pretext very effectively since they have brainwashed so successfully western audiences.
The whole point is that the US is bankrupt and has absolutely NOTHING to offer to the world… unlike China which can offer trade and (to a certain degree) co-prosperity. So the US imperialists are doing the only thing they can – lighting fires around the world and using their overwhelming military.
George Kennan warned everyone.
You guys are fucking blind, I am sorry
Russia just killed more than 20 people in a missile strike in Kyiv
Ukraine has repeatedly said that they are ready for peace, while Russia is purposefully stalling the negotiations to not end the war
As a Russian businessman said himself
"We will drag the idea of a ceasefire in Trumps face, like a cat trying to grab a mouse [sic] on a stick.
You pathetic morons defending this barbary are either ignorant, propogandised, or russian shills.
No rational person thinks that this barbarism perpetrated by Moscow is in any way acceptable or necessary.
Disgusting
Does any rational person think that overthrowing Ukraine's democracy elected president in 2014 was in any way acceptable or necessary?
This is Joey Biden's war. The longer President Trump continues to supply Zelensky with weapons, cash, and intelligence the more it becomes. Trump's war.
Fire those NEOCONs giving bad advice like Kellogg and anyone telling Trump that Russia is losing and desperate for peace at any price.
As long as Zelensky and the Ukrainian fascists are in power: There is NO diplomatic solution for the Ukraine war, it will be played out on the battlefield.
Russia is continuing their advance and will go further and further west.
You've nailed it with this:
MUH FASHISTS REEEEEEEEEE
Ukrainian fascism (of the Nazi variety) is a prominent thing, dude: https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2025/04/22/ukrainian-racial-social-nationalism/
And russia doesnt have any of that of course
There’s bound to be SOME. Probably in many countries, yours included. But do they have a big influence in government or military, like shown in Ukraine?
Yes
He's not wrong on this one. It does look like the EU is morphing back into Hitler's Third Reich and getting ready to march east on Moscow.
Yes, but Ukrainian fascists were installed in power by the US and remain in power only because of US and EU support. If that support were to end by some miracle, so would the war.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-launches-massive-missile-strike-kiev-leaving-9-dead
President Trump early Thursday condemned the attack, saying he's "not happy" with the Russian move. "Vladimir, STOP!" he wrote on Truth Social. "5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let's get the Peace Deal DONE!"
President Trump's 'sympathy' isn't touching a nerve in Moscow.
One of this evening's potential targets in Kyiv: the Hilton Kyiv. Popular with American bureaucrats and servicemen.
The Diplomat Hotel?
https://www.google.com/travel/search?q=hotels%20in%20kiev%20ukraine&g2lb=4965990%2C4969803%2C72277293%2C72302247%2C72317059%2C72406588%2C72414906%2C72471280%2C72472051%2C72481459%2C72485658%2C72560029%2C72573224%2C72616120%2C72619927%2C72647020%2C72648289%2C72686036%2C72760082%2C72803964%2C72827241%2C72832976%2C72852292%2C72882230%2C72885032%2C72887412%2C72922331%2C72938573%2C72949575&hl=en-US&gl=us&ssta=1&ts=CAESCAoCCAMKAggDGhwSGhIUCgcI6Q8QBBgcEgcI6Q8QBBgdGAEyAhAAKgcKBToDVVNE&qs=CAEyE0Nnb0l3OXVjbjZEWjJvc0lFQUU4CkIJEa2DFKJpSXzEQgkR-559GNBDcsFCCRE1R2D43pwW4lpSCAEyTqoBSxABKgoiBmhvdGVscygAMh8QASIbsS-lK81rQiISuImxPsi8gFG0fZXi8_eAPjiTMhoQAiIWaG90ZWxzIGluIGtpZXYgdWtyYWluZQ&ap=aAG6AQhvdmVydmlldw&ictx=111&ved=0CAAQ5JsGahcKEwjQzenY5_CMAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQDw
What strikes me is the high and mighty imperialistic negotiating style—geez we spent a whole 100 days on this, we're so wonderful—with a conflict that's very old, decades old or longer. A point in the original SMO was de-nazify Ukraine as a basic goal. Why is that not being pursued, as with replacing Zelensky to begin with? But this style of “we're in charge here damn you” is also highly suspicious and redolent with distrust of anything the US “engineers” (remember its role in the maidan 2014). Further, the role of the referendums needs more consideration—as genuine to begin with. Were they genuine or not? For example, the Crimea referendum in 2014 drew 96+% support for ceding it to Russia. If we are so gung ho on democracy where is the will of the actual people involved in all this chaos?
That line actually made me die laughing and then cringe so hard
Do you believe a referendum held under an illiberal democracy where voter fraud is widespread…..
Turning out as 96% in favour of anything?
I don't know whether to be shocked, stunned, saddened, or laughing
How did you "die laughing" and then "cringe so hard"?
I am unsure
Just fucking with you. The term would be "almost died laughing".
Its ok lol
We need to verify the referendums one way or another. Your line is the propaganda populations voted at the point of a gun. What is correct? How can we know? And the point still is: what is the will of the actual people involved in all this chaos?
The will of the people is to not be raped by an invading russian
Ethnic Russians are the overwhelming majority in Crimea and the majority in Donbas. Please explain to us why would invading Russians rape their own kin?
Oh, wait, I know. You don't recognize demographics that are contrary to your imbecile ideology of Russophobia.
Not russophobia….