Trump Urges Ukraine to Cede Territory to Russia in Tense Meeting…
In a meeting fraught with tension and ultimately leaving the Ukrainian delegation disappointed, former President Donald Trump reportedly pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to relinquish significant portions of his country’s territory to Russia. Accounts from two individuals briefed on the discussion suggest that Trump also withheld advanced Tomahawk missiles from Ukraine and expressed a desire to offer security guarantees to both Kyiv and Moscow, a stance that reportedly confused the Ukrainian side.
The private discussions, which took place at the White House, preceded Trump’s public call for a ceasefire along the current frontlines – a position President Zelensky subsequently adopted in his public remarks. Sources indicate that this proposal for a ceasefire on existing lines emerged directly from Trump during the meeting, specifically after Zelensky firmly stated his refusal to voluntarily cede any Ukrainian land.
Trump further articulated this position in subsequent public statements. Speaking from Air Force One on Sunday, he advocated for an immediate cessation of hostilities: “We think that what they should do is just stop at the lines where they are, the battle lines.” He described the prospect of further negotiation as challenging, stating, “The rest is very tough to negotiate if you’re going to say, ‘you take this, we take that.’”
When questioned about advising Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region, Trump denied this, instead suggesting that the current de facto division of territory should be accepted. “Let it be cut the way it is,” he commented. “It’s cut up right now. I think 78 per cent of the land is already taken by Russia.” His recommendation was to “leave it the way it is right now. They can … negotiate something later on down the line.”
The meeting represented a significant setback for President Zelensky, who had arrived with the primary objective of securing long-range Tomahawk missiles, weapons capable of striking deep within Russian territory. This encounter contrasted with recent indications that Trump might have been shifting his focus towards full support for Ukraine’s defense efforts, rather than brokering a peace deal. However, Friday’s meeting suggested a potential return to Trump’s earlier inclination to mediate an agreement.
According to the sources, U.S. officials repeatedly raised the idea of a territorial exchange between Ukraine and Russia – a concept Trump had previously endorsed. They stressed the urgency of reaching a swift resolution. “It was pretty bad,” one source characterized the meeting, conveying that the message to Zelensky was stark: “Your country will freeze, and your country will be destroyed” unless a deal with Russia is struck. The source also noted that Trump employed profanity on multiple occasions during the conversation.
Two individuals familiar with the talks came away with the impression that Trump’s stance may have been influenced by a phone call he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin the preceding Thursday. The Washington Post reported that during this conversation, Putin proposed a territorial swap, suggesting Ukraine cede parts of Donetsk and Luhansk in exchange for limited areas within Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. This specific proposal, the sources indicated, was then presented to Zelensky by U.S. officials on Friday.
However, Ukraine views the remaining territories in Donetsk and Luhansk as strategically vital. Ceding them, Ukrainian officials believe, would significantly increase the vulnerability of the rest of the country to further Russian aggression.
President Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s unwavering position in his Sunday night video address: “We will give nothing to the aggressor, and we will forget nothing.” He emphasized, “We clearly see that this Russia is a long-term threat.”
The reported meeting occurred just days after Trump announced his intention to meet with Putin in Budapest. A Kremlin aide subsequently indicated that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would engage in discussions in the coming days to prepare for such a summit.
Neither the White House nor the Ukrainian president’s office has yet responded to requests for comment on the matter.
