The US may “recognize” Crimea as Russian
19 April 06:51
The US is ready to recognize Russia’s “control” Over occupied Ukrainian Crimea as part of a possible broader peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Bloomberg.
Sources familiar with the matter told the Western publication about the possibility.
“The potential concession is the latest signal that President Donald Trump is seeking to cement the ceasefire agreement and comes after he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the administration was ready to end its peace efforts if no progress is made quickly,” the report said.
This comes after he and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested on April 18 that the administration was ready to back away from its peace mediation efforts if progress was not made quickly.
The potential “recognition” of Crimea as Russian risks undermining international laws and treaties that explicitly prohibit the seizure of territory by force and annexation. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly emphasized that the country will not give up its territories to Russia.
At the same time, the move will be a boon for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who still refuses to accept Trump’s proposal for a broad peace deal.
One official said that the US plans, which need to be further discussed with Ukraine, will not lead to a final settlement. In addition, European allies do not recognize any occupied territories as Russian. Thus, the negotiations will be meaningless unless the Kremlin agrees to stop hostilities, and providing Ukraine with security guarantees is an important part of any agreement.
Bloomberg sources say that the Trump administration has not yet made a final decision on this issue. The White House and the State Department did not respond to the Western publication’s request for comment. In addition, a U.S. official familiar with the negotiations also did not respond to a question about the possibility of “recognizing” Crimea.
