Trump administration considers controversial Crimea stance
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is contemplating recognising Crimea as Russian territory as part of a potential future agreement to end the war in Ukraine, reported the American portal Semafor on Monday, citing two individuals familiar with the matter.
According to Semafor, administration officials also discussed the possibility of persuading the UN to recognise 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 viewed Crimea as a part of his country.
The publication emphasised that Trump has not officially made any decisions on this matter, and this option is merely 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 further details.
The portal recalls that Trump considered recognising 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 recognise Crimea as Russian territory.
"But you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were," Trump said in an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in 2016. "And you have to look at that, also."
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.
