Donald Trump has said he “thinks” Volodymyr Zelensky is willing to give up Crimea to Russia as part of a peace deal, despite Ukraine’s leader recently insisting the territory was the “property” of his people.
The US president said Zelensky was “calmer” during comments to reporters on Sunday.
“I think he understands the picture, and I think he wants to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey.
When asked if he thought Zelensky was ready to cede control of Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, Trump responded: “I think so.”
Trump also urged Russia to “stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also warned the Trump administration might abandon its attempts to broker a deal if Russia and Ukraine do not make headway.
Last week Trump told Time magazine “Crimea will stay with Russia,” adding that Zelensky “understands that.”
“Everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time. It’s been with them long before Trump came along,” he said.
Ukrainian and European officials pushed back last week against some US proposals on how to end the war, making counterproposals on issues from territory to sanctions.
American proposals called for US recognition of Russia’s control over Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow seized and annexed in 2014, as well as de facto recognition of Russia’s hold on other parts of Ukraine.
In contrast, the European and Ukrainian proposal defers detailed discussion about territory until after a ceasefire is concluded.
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Don't count on Trump's volatility saving Ukraine
Read MoreGerman Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Sunday that Ukraine should not agree to the American proposal, saying it went too far in ceding swathes of territory in return for a ceasefire.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, said the US president has “expressed his frustration” at both Putin and Zelensky but remains determined to help negotiate an agreement.
Waltz also said the United States and Ukraine would eventually reach an agreement over rare earth minerals.
Chuck Schumer, the top US Senate Democrat, said on Sunday that he is concerned Trump will “cave in to Putin.”
“To just abandon Ukraine, after all the sacrifice that they made, after so much loss of life, and with the rallying of the whole West against Putin, it would just be a moral tragedy,” Schumer said on CNN’s “State of the Union” programme.
With agencies
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