'He's going to take something' — Trump says Putin has 'won' territory in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has "won certain property" during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and should be expected to take Ukrainian territory as part of a peace deal, U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News that aired Oct. 19.
The interview was taped a few days earlier, directly following his phone conversation with Putin on Oct. 16. The call came ahead of Trump's White House meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky — talks that ended in disappointment for the Ukrainian delegation, with no promise of Tomahawk missiles.
Prior to the call with Putin, Trump had taken a harsher tone with Russia in public comments. But in comments to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, who asked whether Putin would accept a peace deal without territorial concessions, Trump was cavalier about the loss of Ukrainian lands.
"Well, he's going to take something," Trump said. "I mean, they fought and uh, he has a lot of property. I mean, you know, he's won certain property, if you say that, he's won certain property."
Trump made no mention of Ukraine's sovereignty or international law, taking it as a given that an invading force has a right to "property" it seizes through strength of arms.
"We're the only nation that goes in and wins a war and then leaves," he said. "You know like we did under President Bush in the Middle East. We go in, we blast the hell out of everybody, destroy the place, and then we leave. ... You know, it doesn't make sense. Never made sense."
Following his meeting with Zelensky, Trump echoed these sentiments on social media, writing that Ukraine and Russia should make a peace deal "with property lines being defined by war and guts."
In an interview with NBC after his talks with Trump, Zelensky said he took this to mean Ukraine and Russia could freeze the war along the current line of contact, but that Kyiv is not interesting in surrendering "additional" territory to Putin.
"We will give nothing to the aggressor," Zelensky later said in his nightly address on Oct. 19.
Russia, however, is reportedly seeking full control of Donetsk Oblast as part of a deal to end the war.
Putin told Trump he was willing to give up parts of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, both partially occupied by Russian forces, in exchange for the entirety of Donetsk, the Washington Post reported on Oct. 18, citing two senior U.S. officials.
The Financial Times (FT) later reported that Trump pushed Zelensky to accept these terms during their meeting.
In a conversation that at times turned into a shouting match, Trump told Zelensky that Russia was winning the war and would destroy Ukraine if Kyiv didn't make a deal, a European official with knowledge of the meeting told FT.
"If (Putin) wants it, he will destroy you," Trump reportedly told Zelensky.
The U.S. president parroted a number of Kremlin propaganda points during the meeting, the European official claimed. Trump said Putin told him that the invasion of Ukraine was a "special operation, not even a war." Trump also said the Russian economy is "doing great."
According to the official, Trump also grew frustrated with Ukraine's battlefield map and tossed it aside, saying he was "sick" of seeing these maps.
"This red line, I don't even know where this is. I've never been there," Trump allegedly said.
Putin's latest proposal marks a shift from his earlier position in April, when he insisted that any peace deal must grant Russia full control over Crimea plus the full four regions that are partially occupied now: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
While a small concession, it would require Ukraine to hand over territory that Russia has failed to seize after years of fighting despite significant advantages in manpower and military equipment.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Oct. 19 that Ukraine should not be pressured to give up its territory.
"None of us should put pressure on Zelensky when it comes to territorial concessions," Tusk wrote on X.
"We should all put pressure on Russia to stop its aggression. Appeasement never was a road to a just and lasting peace."
