Russia is not discussing the status of Crimea as part of negotiations with the United States to end the war in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told CBS News. “This is a resolved issue. Russia is not negotiating the integrity of its territory,” he said. According to Lavrov, this is also understood by US President Donald Trump. At the same time, the Minister criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who claimed to be unwavering on the issue of belonging to the peninsula, referring to the Constitution of the country.
Recognizing Crimea as Russian territory is at the heart of the US plan to end the war in Ukraine. Recently, Trump has repeatedly spoken out on the topic, emphasizing that Kyiv must come to terms with the loss of the peninsula forever. He recalled that Russia seized Crimea “without a single shot” more than 10 years ago, when Barack Obama was US president, noting that Ukraine did not fight for the territory then. Crimea will remain with Russia. And Zelenskyy understands this, and everyone understands this. It [the peninsula] has been with them for a long time,” Trump said on April 25. Two days later, he again accused Obama of “letting Russia steal Crimea from Ukraine” and complained that he now had to “clean up the mess” left by his predecessors.
