U.S. reportedly open to recognizing Crimea as Russian in potential peace deal — media

Bloomberg reported the information, citing sources familiar with the matter. 

“The U.S. is prepared to recognize Russian control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea as part of a broader peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv,” the publication notes. 

It is noted that the potential concession is the latest signal from U.S. President Donald Trump in his efforts to consolidate the ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Prior to this, the Trump administration suggested that it might stop its efforts as a mediator if no rapid progress is made.

“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,” Trump told reporters Friday in the Oval Office.

One of the officials stated that the U.S. plans, which require further discussion with Kyiv, would not signify a final settlement, and that European allies would not recognize any occupied territory as Russian. Officials emphasized that negotiations would be fruitless unless the Kremlin agrees to cease hostilities, and that providing Ukraine with security guarantees to ensure the implementation of the agreement is also an integral part of any arrangement.

The White House and the State Department did not respond to a request for comment. A U.S. official familiar with the negotiations also declined to comment. 

Meanwhile, a CNN source confirmed that the U.S. presented a framework agreement to the Europeans and Ukrainians during a meeting in Paris on Thursday, April 17. This was also communicated to the Russians during a phone call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

• On March 22, U.S. Special Representative Steve Witkoff said that Crimea and the “so-called four regions: Donbas, Luhansk, and two other regions” are the biggest obstacles to resolving the war started by Russia. Prior to that, Zelenskyy said that in negotiations with Russia, the red line for Ukraine is the recognition of its occupied territories as Russian.