Crimea will stay with Russia and Zelenskyy understands that - Trump

In particular, Trump was asked whether it would be acceptable for him if Crimea and four other regions of Ukraine partially occupied by Russia were ceded to Moscow. The US President responded that "we have to only talk about Crimea because that's the one that always gets mentioned."

"Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelenskyy understands that, and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time," Trump said.

The US President added that the occupation of the peninsula happened during Barack Obama's presidency. Trump also claimed that Russia "would not have taken Crimea" if he had been president at the time, and referred to the full-scale war as "Obama's war."

"Well, Crimea went to the Russians. It was handed to them by Barack Hussein Obama, and not by me. With that being said, will they be able to get it back? They've had their Russians. They've had their submarines there for long before any period that we're talking about, for many years. The people speak largely Russian in Crimea. But this was given by Obama. This wasn't given by Trump," the US President said.

Trump's idea about Crimea

Western media have recently reported that the so-called peace plan of US President Donald Trump's administration includes recognition of Crimea as Russian. Furthermore, Trump's team reportedly believes that Ukraine should abandon its pursuit of NATO membership.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly emphasized that Ukraine will not give up its occupied territories.

Such statements have angered Trump. He recently said that Zelenskyy’s words are making it harder to resolve the war peacefully.

According to Zelenskyy, new proposals were developed in London on April 23 that take into account Ukraine's position, and they have been delivered to Trump. According to Reuters, the US and European peace plans for Ukraine differ, particularly regarding territories, NATO membership, and sanctions.