Trump adviser says priority in Ukraine is peace, not land restitution

A senior adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that the new administration’s priority in Ukraine would be establishing peace and not restoring lost territories, including Crimea.

Bryan Lanza, a longtime Republican Party strategist, told the BBC that Mr. Trump’s administration would ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a “realistic vision of peace.” “If President Zelensky comes to the negotiating table and says that we can only have peace if we get Crimea back, he is showing us that he is not serious. Crimea no longer exists,” he added. “And if it’s your priority to reclaim Crimea and have American soldiers fight to reclaim Crimea, you’re on your own. He added that the priority was “peace and an end to the massacres”.

What we are going to say to Ukraine is: “Do you know what you see? What is your realistic vision of peace? It is not a vision of victory, but a vision of peace. And let’s start having an honest conversation,” he said.

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 following an uprising in kyiv, which prompted Ukraine’s pro-Russia president to flee at the time. More than two and a half years after launching their invasion, Russian forces hold just under 20% of the territory.