Trump turns policy on its head USA apparently wants to recognize Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine
According to a report in the Telegraph, the USA under President Trump is willing to recognize Russia's control over occupied Ukrainian regions. The move is causing considerable unrest in Europe.
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- The USA is said to have offered Russia "de facto" recognition of its control over parts of Ukraine, as reported by the Telegraph.
- The move is part of a revised peace plan negotiated by Trump's negotiators in Moscow and later with Ukraine.
- European states are reacting with alarm, as Washington would be setting a precedent that would legitimize violent border movements.
According to a report in theTelegraph, the USA is prepared to break a decades-old diplomatic rule: According to the report, US President Donald Trump's administration has signaled to Moscow that Washington would be willing to recognize Russian control over several occupied Ukrainian territories - including Crimea as well as parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions. The offer is said to be part of a far-reaching peace plan that Trump has been pushing for months.
According to the newspaper, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner traveled to Moscow to personally present the proposal to President Vladimir Putin. The move would be a radical break with previous US foreign policy and is causing considerable uncertainty in European capitals. A Telegraph source is quoted as saying: "It is increasingly clear that the Americans are not paying attention to the European position. They say Europe can do what it wants."
The original peace plan comprised 28 points. In it, the USA offered Moscow "de facto recognition" of the Russian occupation in several regions. Following crisis talks between Ukrainian and US delegations in Geneva, the document was reduced to 19 points - but according to several sources, the crucial passage on possible recognition remained.
Ukraine consistently rejects renunciation
For Ukraine, a formal renunciation of its own territory is out of the question. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's chief of staff Andriy Yermak told "The Atlantic" magazine: "No sensible person would sign a document that gives up land." The Ukrainian constitution prohibits territorial cessions without a nationwide referendum.
According to the Telegraph, Jermak and security advisor Rustem Umjerow are to travel to Florida at the weekend. There, the Ukrainian delegation wants to discuss the next steps with Trump's team at the Mar-a-Lago resort. According to the report, the most sensitive issues - in particular the territorial reorganization - will only be clarified in direct talks between Trump and Zelenskyi.
Resistance is growing in Europe. A group of willing states reiterated on Wednesday that borders should not be moved by force. A counter-paper from EU circles recommends that territorial issues should only be dealt with after a complete ceasefire - without any recognition of Russian territorial claims.
Europe expresses alarm
The fact that Washington apparently wants to abandon this line is alarming diplomatic circles. Even after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the USA had never considered recognition. Now a precedent would be set that would send a signal worldwide.
The Kremlin's new security strategy plan shows just how far Moscow wants to go. In it, Putin announces that the occupied regions will be fully integrated into Russian structures within a decade. The Kremlin has never developed any thoughts of withdrawal, writes the Telegraph.
At the same time, published telephone conversations are causing new irritation. In them, Trump's chief negotiator Witkoff is said to have given Russian representatives advice on how they could win sympathy in the White House - including the demand that Ukraine give up Donetsk. Security experts suspect that a European authority published the recordings in order to expose the closeness between Witkoff and Moscow.
