Volodymyr Zelenskiy acknowledged that Ukrainian forces would be unable to regain control over Crimea and said the US won’t have to commit troops as part of security guarantees in an apparent overture to President Donald Trump.
Trump is seeking to build momentum to end the war as his second term approaches the 100-day mark. He has ramped up pressure on Zelenskiy to accept a peace deal that critics fear will favor Moscow, saying Friday that Ukraine should sign a proposed minerals agreement with the US immediately.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow on Friday for the fourth time since the US inauguration.
Washington’s proposals include recognition of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and freezing the war largely along existing battle lines, leaving Putin in control of swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine, Bloomberg has reported. Kyiv would also be required to abandon its goal of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“This is true what Trump says, that we don’t have enough weapon — weapons, not people — to regain control of Crimea by arms,” Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv as he inspected the site of a residential building ravaged by a Russian strike this week that killed 12 people.
“But there is a possibility of sanctions, other economic pressure, diplomatic pressure,” Zelenskiy added.
The international community has resisted recognizing the Crimean peninsula as Russian to avoid legitimizing Putin’s annexation, a move that was broadly condemned as illegal. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said he won’t cede territory to Moscow. Trump said in an interview with Time Magazine published on Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia.”
Kyiv and its European allies have sought to slow Trump’s rush to a deal over concern that it will sacrifice Ukrainian and European security. They insist that a ceasefire and clarity over security guarantees for Ukraine must precede any deal that involves negotiations over territory, according to people familiar with the matter.
“I spoke to Trump about it — for us the backstop isn’t necessarily boots on the ground,” Zelenskiy said. “I know the US view on this is not very positive — so we’re talking about intelligence, cybersecurity and Patriots,” the president said, referring to US-made missiles that are critical for Ukraine’s air defense.
Zelenskiy said this week he’d like to meet Trump at the Vatican on Saturday where global leaders will attend the funeral of Pope Francis. But because of the April 24 deadly Russian missile strike at the residential part of Kyiv, Zelenskiy said he was not sure he would be able to arrive to Vatican on time.
“In the coming days important meetings may take place that can bring truce in Ukraine closer,” Zelenskiy said in his daily video address Friday, without elaborating. “Diplomacy must work and we are doing everything to make diplomacy substantive and finally work.”
Trump said on his Truth Social network that “work on the overall peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly” and urged Ukraine to “immediately” sign the mineral agreement. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ukrainian officials discussed the economic partnership this week in Washington.
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