Trump administration mulls Crimea recognition amidst peace talks
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is considering recognizing Crimea as Russian territory as part of a future agreement aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, reported the American portal Semafor on Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
According to Semafor, administration officials also discussed the possibility of convincing the UN likewise to recognize Crimea as Russian territory. The portal suggests that such a stance from Washington would be a significant concession to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who has long regarded Crimea as part of his country.
The publication emphasized that Trump has not formally made any decisions on this matter, and this option is just one of many that the U.S. president's team is considering as part of efforts to end the war in Ukraine. The White House declined to comment.
Semafor notes that on Monday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt confirmed at a press conference that Trump's team discussed possible territorial concessions by Kyiv with Ukrainian authorities, but she did not provide any details.
The portal recalls that Trump considered recognizing Crimea as Russian territory several years before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While running for president in 2016 and then during his first term, Trump repeatedly said that he would consider taking steps to recognize Crimea as Russian territory.
"The people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were" Trump said in an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in 2018.
Semafor has been operating in the American media market since 2022. It was founded by Ben Smith, former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News and a regular commentator for The New York Times, and Justin B. Smith, former CEO of Bloomberg Media Group. They target their product at educated professionals who have lost trust in all sources of information.
