Donald Trump ‘thinks’ Volodymyr Zelensky will cede Crimea, tells Vladimir Putin to ‘stop shooting’ and make a deal

Donald Trump says ‘I think’ Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to give up Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula captured by Russia in 2014, for a peace deal and Russia should ‘stop shooting’.

US president Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he arrives at the White House on Sunday US time. Picture: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Donald Trump has said that he thought Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to give up Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula captured by Russia in 2014, as part of efforts to agree a peace deal.

“Oh, I think so,” said Mr Trump in response to a question on whether he thought Mr Zelensky was ready to “give up” the territory.

Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has also claimed to have annexed four eastern and southern territories of the war-battered country despite not having full military control over them.

The US president said on Sunday local time he wanted Russia’s Vladimir Putin to “stop shooting” in Ukraine and sign a peace deal, speaking one day after the US leader met Ukraine’s president at the Vatican.

Mr Trump, who boasted before his inauguration that he could halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine within one day, has launched a diplomatic offensive since taking office to halt the fighting.

Those efforts have so far failed to yield any results.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a screen as he attends a concert in Red Square in Moscow, on March 18, 2024, marking the 10th anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Picture: AP

“Well, I want him to stop shooting, sit down, and sign a deal,” Mr Trump said in response to a question on what he wanted from the Russian president.

Mr Trump was speaking on the tarmac at Morristown airport before boarding Air Force One bound for Washington, having attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome on Saturday.

“We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it,” Mr Trump added, likely referring to a US-proposed peace plan for the more-than-three-year-long conflict in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky meets Donald Trump on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral at the weekend. Picture: Ukrainian foreign ministry / AFP

Mr Trump met Mr Zelensky at the funeral, where the two leaders spoke face-to-face for the first time since a disastrous televised meeting in the White House in February.

After their brief talk in St Peter’s Basilica, Mr Trump cast doubt over whether Mr Putin wanted an end to the war, which has devastated swaths of eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people.

AFP