The Trump administration is poised to recognize Crimea as Russian territory as part of a broader peace deal to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and State Department for comment via email on Friday.
Why It Matters
Russia illegally invaded and annexed Crimea—which was part of Ukraine—in 2014 after the Revolution of Dignity and has since referred to it as Russian territory.
The region has been roiled by volatility and political unrest in the years since, as Ukraine tries to oust Russian forces from Crimea and Donbas.
The U.S. currently recognizes Crimea as part of Ukraine and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly emphasized that he will not cede Crimea or any other territory to Russia as part of a ceasefire agreement or peace deal.
The Trump administration’s reported preparedness to recognize Crimea as part of Russia will likely throw a wrench in tenuous discussions with Ukraine and Russia about a ceasefire deal.
It also reflects the White House’s increased urgency to cement a final agreement following weeks of clamoring from President Donald Trump and top administration officials.
What To Know
Bloomberg’s report came hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the U.S. will decide in “a matter of days” whether a peace deal is achievable in the first place.
“We are now reaching a point where we need to decide and determine whether this is even possible or not, which is why we’re engaging both sides,” Rubio told reporters before departing Paris on Friday.
Rubio said he went to France to discuss “more specific outlines” on what’s required to secure a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian officials met with Rubio as well as officials from the U.K., France and other European countries who created a “coalition of the willing” in February to support and defend Ukraine after a disastrous Oval Office meeting in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated and belittled Zelensky.
Countries in the “coalition of the willing” would be tasked with giving Ukraine security guarantees in the event that Russia and Ukraine come to a ceasefire agreement.
Ukraine has repeatedly pressed for an American security guarantee as well, but talks between the two countries have hit repeated snags since negotiations over a U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal kicked off last month.
Trump has pushed hard for Ukraine to sign an agreement that would give the U.S. access to its valuable mineral reserves in exchange for continued U.S. support for Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia.
But negotiations over the deal have been marred by disagreements over the parameters of the agreement, the scope of America’s demands and Ukraine’s insistence that it will not sign an agreement that doesn’t include security guarantees or bars it from seeking membership in the European Union.
Tensions heightened after a recent draft of the agreement from the Trump administration was more far-reaching and expansive than the original proposal. It also did not include any U.S. security guarantees for Kyiv, which is a key sticking point for Ukraine.
“The negotiating environment is very antagonistic,” a source with knowledge of the talks told Reuters this month.
The outlet also reported that U.S. officials were frustrated by Zelensky’s comment this week that Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, is “spreading Russian narratives.”
Russia, meanwhile, has publicly said it is open to a peace deal with Ukraine and that it remains committed to a dialogue with the U.S., but both the U.S. and Ukraine have accused the Kremlin of spinning and stalling, while the war continues.
What People Are Saying
Rubio said Friday: “We need to determine very quickly now—and I’m talking about a matter of days—whether or not this is doable” in the coming weeks.
Trump told reporters Friday that the U.S. may abandon its efforts at reaching a peace deal if it takes much longer: “Quickly, we want to get it done. Now, if for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, ‘You’re foolish, you’re fools, you’re horrible people.’ And we’re going to just take a pass. But hopefully we won’t have to do that.”
Steven Pifer, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “In 2014, Russia used military force to seize Crimea and supported fighting in Donbas. Nothing has done more to push Ukraine toward NATO than Russian policy of past 12 years.”
What Happens Next
It’s not immediately clear whether the U.S. will push for a ceasefire deal that includes Ukraine ceding Crimea to Russia. Bloomberg’s sources told the outlet a final decision on the issue hasn’t been reached.
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