Trump shuts door on Crimea return: ‘Kyiv can forget about it’

Donald Trump has made it clear that Crimea is off the table in any peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a declaration that strikes at the very heart of the decade-long conflict.

The Black Sea peninsula, seized by Russia in 2014, remains one of the most explosive issues in the war. Moscow grabbed it overnight with little resistance, though at least two Ukrainian soldiers were killed.

Days later, Vladimir Putin openly bragged about plotting the takeover in a late-night meeting after Ukraine’s pro-Russian leader, Viktor Yanukovych, was chased out of Kyiv.

Crimea was part of Ukraine when it declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. But Russia has never hidden its ambitions, insisting the territory is historically theirs. That claim has been dismissed by the international community, but Putin has repeated it at every opportunity.

To cement control, the Kremlin staged a 2014 referendum where Crimeans supposedly voted to join Russia. The world called it a sham. Ukraine has never accepted the loss, and President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly vowed not to surrender it.

“There’s nothing to talk about here,” Zelensky thundered in April. “This is against our constitution.”

Ukraine’s constitution is clear: its sovereignty stretches across its entire territory, which is indivisible and inviolable. Any change would require a national referendum approved by parliament.