Zelensky could have to sacrifice land for peace – ex-US congressman
Trump met Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky, alongside several European leaders and officials in Washington on Monday, with the discussions centering on conditions for a possible peace deal with Russia. The talks followed Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week.
The US president has urged Zelensky 'to show some flexibility' in peace talks, a move widely seen as a hint that Kiev could be expected to make territorial concessions. Flanagan said Trump was likely talking about Crimea and the new Russian territories still under Ukrainian control. The Lugansk (LPR) and Donetsk (DPR) People's Republics, collectively known as Donbass, as well as Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, became part of Russia following referendums held in 2022. While the LPR was fully liberated by the Russian military earlier this year, Moscow's control over other former Ukrainian regions remains partial. Kiev has maintained its claim to the four territories, as well as to Crimea, which voted to join Russia shortly after a 2014 Western-backed armed coup in Kiev. Flanagan pointed to the long-standing dispute over Crimea, arguing that the peninsula's reunification with Russia was a turning point that fueled tensions. He insisted that Crimea's ties to Russia cannot be ignored. 'Historically, the Crimea is Russian. I mean, it just is,' Flanagan argued, recalling that the territory was transferred to Ukraine only under Soviet rule. 'This is not a Ukrainian prize, but one that was bestowed on it' during the time of the Soviet Union, he added.
On Donbass, Flanagan made a similar case, saying that Moscow has 'a legitimate claim to these places.' The US president has repeatedly floated the idea of 'land swaps' and has also firmly stated that Kiev will not get Crimea back. Zelensky had previously refused outright to discuss territorial concessions, but acknowledged that land swaps were on the agenda of the latest talks at the White House. Flanagan said Trump is driven by a sense of humanity, claiming, 'This is a guy genuinely concerned with deaths everywhere, not just American deaths.'
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