Trump Claims Zelenskyy Is Ready To Make A Major Concession In The Name Of Peace

President Donald Trump welcomes Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.Donald Trump has just claimed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to cede the occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea to Russia in a peace deal.The Black Sea peninsula was illegally annexed by Vladimir Putin in 2014, and the Ukrainian president has been been very clear he does not intend to formally give it up just to secure Trump’s vision of a quick end to the war.The US president’s remarks follow his meeting with Zelenskyy in the Vatican City, when they were both attending Pope Francis’ funeral.Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey on his return journey, Trump was asked if he thought Zelenskyy was ready to “give up” the peninsula.He replied: “Oh, I think so.”Zelenskyy did not immediately respond to this claim.Trump also did not reference the Ukrainian leader’s comments from last Tuesday, when Zelenskyy told reporters: “There is nothing to talk about. This violates our Constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine.”He said such proposals risk playing directly into Putin’s “game”.Trump was also asked if his relationship with Zelenskyy has now improved, following their bust-up in the Oval Office back in February.He said: “Look, it was never bad. We had a little dispute, because I disagreed with something he said, and the cameras were rolling and that was OK with me.”He added: “Look, he’s in a tough situation, a very tough situation. He’s fighting a much bigger force, much bigger.”Trump said he thinks Zelenskyy is “calmer” now compared to when the US administration publicly berated him in front of the press.“I think he understands the picture, and I think he wants to make a deal,” he claimed.Meanwhile, German defence minister Boris Pistorius told broadcaster ARD on Sunday that giving up Crimea was “akin to a capitulation”.He said while Kyiv knows it may have to give up land, he dismissed this particular US plan.The minister said: “But these will certainly not go … as far as they do in the latest proposal from the US president.“Ukraine on its own could have got a year ago what was included in that [US] proposal, it is akin to a capitulation. I cannot discern any added value.”Still, Trump did still appear on friendlier terms with Zelenskyy than before, even criticising Putin’s latest strikes on Ukraine.“I was very disappointed that missiles were flying, by Russia,” he said.Asked what he wanted Putin to do, he said: “Well, I want him to stop shooting. Sit down and sign the deal. We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it and be done with it.”Pressed over whether he trusts the Russian president, Trump said mysteriously: “I’ll let you know in about two weeks.”The US president has previously spoken very highly of Putin, but appears to have lost faith in Russia’s desire to end the war it started.After meeting Zelenskyy over the weekend, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that he thought Putin might not want to resolve the conflict after all, and was just “tapping me along”.Related...Donald Trump Says Putin 'Maybe Doesn't Want To Stop The War' Following Talks With ZelenskyyTrump Attacks Zelenskyy Yet Again, Accusing Ukraine's President Of 'Inflammatory Statements' Over CrimeaVladimir Putin's 'Easter Truce' Is A Sham, Says Volodymyr Zelenskyy As Bombing Goes On

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