US President Donald Trump said he believed that Ukrainian leader Volodomyr Zelensky is ready to give up recovering the Crimea occupied by Russia, when negotiations on Ukraine enter on a “crucial week” according to Washington on Monday.
Although kyiv has so far always excluded the idea of abandoning this peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, the American leader estimated on Sunday that the position of his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky could change.
“I think yes. Crimea was 12 years ago, “Trump told journalists at a trip to New Jersey, in response to the question if he thought that Mr. Zelensky was ready to” abandon “this territory in a context of decline in Ukrainian troops on the front.
The abandonment of Crimea by Ukraine is regularly advanced by Washington as a possible premise to a peace plan with Moscow. This would also include a freeze on the front line, according to the projects of the American administration.
The words of Mr. Trump intervene at a time when Moscow claims to have fully “released” the Russian region of Koursk, of which Ukraine had conquered several hundred square kilometers in August 2024 and that Mr. Zelensky said he wanted to monitor in the context of a territorial “exchange”.
MM. Trump and Zelensky have gone head to face in Rome on the sidelines of Pope Francis funeral on Saturday.
In this context, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio estimated progress on Sunday could be made in the coming days.
“We are close (an agreement), but not close enough,” he told the NBC channel. “I think this week will be crucial.”
The American president, however, has expressed doubts in recent days about Vladimir Putin’s desire to end the war.
“Sit and sign the agreement”
“I want him to stop shooting. Sit and sign the agreement, ”said Trump on Sunday. “We have the basics of an agreement, I believe, and I want him to sign it,” he added.
The German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Ukraine should not give up all the territories occupied by Russia as Trump would like.
-“Ukraine has of course known for a long time that a ceasefire or a sustainable and credible peace agreement could involve territorial concessions,” he said on Sunday on the ARD television channel. “But they will certainly not go as far (…) as the last proposal of the American president.”
20% of the occupied territory
Thirty-eight months after having sparked a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia occupied around 20% of the Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.
On Saturday, the chief of staff of the Russian army, Valéri Guérassimov, had assured that the Koursk region had been entirely “released” from the Ukrainian troops.
The general had notably praised the “heroism” of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia-the first admission by Moscow of their participation in the conflict.
North Korea also confirmed on Monday for the first time the presence of its troops in Russia to participate “in the operations of liberation from the Koursk areas” within the framework of the mutual defense agreement between the two countries. The official agency KCNA assured that the war effort of these soldiers had “concluded victoriously”.
Future monument in Pyongyang
“Those who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honor of the homeland,” said North Korean leader Kim Jong Une, quoted by KCNA. He added that a monument commemorating the “exploits of the battle” would soon be erected in the capital Pyongyang.
Ukraine, however, said on Sunday that his troops continued to fight in Russian territory.
“Our army continues to conduct operations in the (Russian) regions of Koursk and Belgorod. We maintain our presence in Russian territory, “Zelensky said on Sunday during his evening speech.
A Russian commander in Koursk confirmed that the Russian army still conducted operations in the border region, according to a state television broadcast on Sunday.
Mr. Zelensky called for more pressure on Moscow to create opportunities for “real diplomacy”.
“The situation on the front lines and the current Russian army activities prove that the pressures currently exerted on Russia to arrest this war are insufficient,” he said.
In addition to fighting on the front, the two countries are almost daily at air attacks. During the night of Sunday to Monday, a civilian was killed and another injured in a “massive attack of Ukrainian drones” on the Russian city of Britansk, southwest of Moscow, according to local governor Aleksandr Bogomaz.
(afp)
