A screen with the word “Russia” on it looms over an event to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia‘s annexation of Crimea in Sevastopol, Crimea, 18 March 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE
The Trump administration is considering formally recognising occupied Crimea as Russian territory as part of a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, news outlet Semafor reported ahead of the US president’s scheduled call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
Citing two anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter, Semafor said administration officials had discussed not only the prospect of the US recognising Crimea as Russian, but also urging the United Nations to do the same.
It stressed, however, that Trump had not made a final decision on the matter and that the Crimea proposals were “two of a multitude of options being floated as his administration pushes for an end to the war”.
On Sunday, Trump said he would be speaking with Putin on Tuesday about “land” and “power plants” and that the prospect of “dividing up certain assets” in Ukraine had already been raised in talks between Washington and Moscow.
In an interview with CBS News earlier that day, Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz questioned whether it was “realistic” or in US “national interest” to expect Ukraine to regain control over the approximately 20% of its territory currently occupied by Russia.
“Are we going to drive every Russian off of every inch of Ukrainian soil, including Crimea?”, Waltz asked.
While the international community overwhelmingly views Crimea as belonging to Ukraine, the peninsula has been under de facto rule from Moscow since Russia illegally annexed it in 2014. Since then, Russia is estimated to have established over 200 military facilities in the region.
While running for a first term as president in 2016, Trump suggested the people of Crimea “would rather be with Russia than where they were” and said he would “look at” whether the US should recognise Russian control over the peninsula.
Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that Ukraine lacked the military strength to expel Russian forces, however, saying that Kyiv would not acknowledge Russian control over any Ukrainian land seized since 2014 and would instead pursue its return through diplomatic means.
