Land deal is the only choice, US warns Zelensky

President Donald Trump may meet the Ukrainian leader in Rome, on the margins of Pope Francis’s funeral, as pressure is piled on Kyiv to accept loss of territory.

President Zelensky joined a day of mourning in Kyiv after 12 people were killed by Russian strikes on Thursday. Picture: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

US President Donald Trump’s plan to let Russia keep occupied territory in Ukraine is “set in stone”, The Times has been told, as pressure builds on President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept a forced peace.

Trump may meet Zelensky in Rome on Saturday on the margins of Pope Francis’s funeral but he believes that the Ukrainian leader “really has no choice” but to sign up to the proposal, according to a source close to Steve Witkoff, the US president’s special envoy. Trump is threatening to pull out of the peace process next week unless a deal is agreed.

The US proposal, presented by Witkoff to Moscow and Kyiv, was reported to include formal US recognition of Russia’s control over Crimea, the peninsula that was annexed in 2014, and de facto recognition of Russia’s control over areas of southern and eastern Ukraine that its forces have seized since the full-scale invasion of 2022.

Steve Witkoff held three hours of talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday. Picture: Sputnik//Kristina Kormilitsyna/Reuters

A rival European and Ukrainian proposal makes discussion about control of territory dependent upon talks that would follow a ceasefire.

The source close to Witkoff said: “Trump’s view is that this land has been seized and it is not going back. The deal on the table is that the Russian- occupied territory is going to remain occupied. Russia’s not pulling out of it. That part is set in stone.”

The US believes that if Ukraine rejects the deal, the war would go on for months and possibly years, and Kyiv would be reliant on Europe for funding and munitions, the source said.

“The [US] funding cut-off actually is going to have as much of an impact as the weapons cut-off [this year] because Ukraine uses that money to buy more weapons from other allies,” the source added.

Asked if this was a “take it or leave it” moment for Zelensky, the source said the US saw it as “take it or take it”.

The Americans also believe European public opinion will turn against the huge expenditure required to keep Ukraine in the war as the continent heads towards recession – partly caused by Trump’s tariffs.

The talks between Witkoff and Putin were described as useful. Picture: Kristina Kormilitsyna/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Witkoff held three hours of talks with President Putin in Moscow on Friday. Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy aide who took part in the talks, described the meeting as constructive and useful. He said: “This conversation allowed Russia and the United States to further bring their positions closer together, not only on Ukraine but also on a number of other international issues. As for the Ukrainian crisis itself, the discussion focused in particular on the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine.”

British and French officials were understood to have been trying to persuade Trump to agree to a meeting with Zelensky after the Pope’s funeral in an attempt to reduce tensions. A British diplomatic source said there was an “obvious opportunity” for talks in Rome but the Italian government said such a move would be seen as disrespectful.

The White House’s public schedule showed that Trump plans to leave St Peter’s Basilica for the airport about an hour after the funeral, leaving little time for any meetings.

Zelensky has argued that Ukraine’s constitution forbids him from formally recognising Crimea as part of Russia, and has ruled out signing any peace deal that hands over control of territory.

Trump showed his uncompromising line on Russian-occupied Ukraine when, in an interview published on Friday, he told Time magazine that “Crimea will stay with Russia” and again blamed Kyiv for provoking Moscow’s invasion.

However, The Times understands that he is flexible on formal US recognition of Crimea at this stage and is not trying to force Zelensky to sign away Ukrainian sovereignty, but to accept the Russian occupation.

Mariana Betsa, the Ukrainian deputy foreign minister, countered that Ukraine would do “whatever it takes” to take back Crimea.

Mariana Betsa said Ukraine would 'never recognise the attempted annexation by Russia. Picture: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images

She told Times Radio: “Our position is very clear and our president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is very clear on that. Crimea is Ukraine. We’ll never recognise the attempted annexation by Russia. We will never recognise it as a Russian territory and we will do whatever it takes … to occupy our land, our country.”

Betsa spoke hours after Yaroslav Moskalik, a senior Russian general, was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow.

The Kremlin blamed Ukrainian special forces for the attack.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said Ukraine may have to concede land as a “temporary” solution to end the three-year conflict. He told the BBC: “One of the scenarios is … to give up territory. It’s not fair. But for the peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution.”

In London, the former commander of the Ukrainian armed forces said Russia would continue to wage war until it suffers a massive defeat.

Valery Zaluzhny, who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain, said at the UK-Ukraine Defence Tech Forum: “As long as the enemy has the resources, forces and means to strike at our territory and attempt offensive actions, he will do so. This is a war of attrition.”

The Times