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President Donald Trump claimed in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, that the U.S. is not forcing Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russian, following reports that a U.S. peace plan includes the U.S. formally recognizing Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea.
"Nobody is asking (President Volodymyr) 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?" Trump wrote on April 23.
Trump's remarks come one day after President Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed that Ukraine would never legally recognize Russia's control of Crimea.
"There is nothing to talk about. This violates our Constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine," Zelensky said at a briefing in Kyiv on April 22.
In response, Trump called Zelensky's position "harmful to the peace negotiations with Russia," claiming that Crimea "was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion."
The claim that Crimea was taken without force is false. During Russia's 2014 annexation, armed Russian troops in unmarked uniforms seized Ukrainian government buildings, military installations, and blockaded bases.
At least one Ukrainian serviceman was killed, and dozens were detained or assaulted. The operation, widely condemned by the international community, violated international law.
Trump also argued that "even before the annexation of Crimea, major Russian submarine bases" were present there, and accused Zelensky of inflaming tensions with rhetoric that complicates peace efforts.
"He can have peace, or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country," Trump wrote. "I have nothing to do with Russia, but have much to do with wanting to save, on average, five thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, who are dying for no reason whatsoever."
Despite expressing frustration over Russia's refusal to de-escalate the war, the U.S. president has so far avoided imposing any major sanctions or taking punitive action against Moscow for its invasion.
While Trump appeared to frame the proposal as something Ukraine could reject, he notably did not deny that the U.S. might move forward with formally recognizing Crimea as Russian territory, something Russia had wanted for years.
Recognition of the annexation would contradict a decade of bipartisan U.S. policy and a 2014 United Nations General Assembly resolution, in which 100 member states declared the seizure illegal.
On April 22, Refat Chubarov, chairman of the Mejlis, the representative body of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people, firmly rejected any international recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.
"Crimea is the homeland of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people and an integral part of Ukraine," Chubarov wrote. "Accordingly, no one can decide the fate of Crimea under any circumstances, except for the Ukrainian state and the Crimean Tatar people."
Since 2014, Moscow has used intimidation, religious profiling, and politically motivated terrorism charges to suppress dissent among Crimean Tatars.
The Mejlis' stance, Chubarov said, is grounded in international law and fully aligned with the Ukrainian Constitution.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said during a visit to India on April 23 that the U.S. had submitted a "very explicit proposal" to both Kyiv and Moscow. Vance warned that unless the two sides move forward, Washington may abandon its mediation efforts.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff declined to participate in diplomatic meetings taking place in London on April 23.
The talks were originally planned as a ministerial-level summit involving the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and Ukraine to discuss a broader peace plan to end Russia's war.
According to Reuters, Rubio's decision not to participate in the talks came after Ukraine delivered a document to European partners on April 22 declaring that Kyiv would not enter negotiations on territorial issues until "a full and unconditional ceasefire" had been achieved.
Natalia Yermak
