Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday to strike a deal with Russia, dampening Ukraine’s hopes for US Tomahawk missiles. In a tense meeting at the White House on Friday, Trump tossed aside maps of the front line and urged Kyiv to concede its entire Donbas region to Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected the idea of forfeiting the Donbas, or any other occupied ground, to Moscow.
WASHINGTON OCTOBER 20: Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday to strike a deal with Russia, dampening Ukraine’s hopes for US Tomahawk missiles. Just a month after backing Ukraine’s goal to reclaim all its territory, Trump shifted his stance following an agreement to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for a new summit.
In a tense meeting at the White House on Friday, Trump tossed aside maps of the front line and urged Kyiv to concede its entire Donbas region to Russia to clinch a deal, according to people familiar with the exchange who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive diplomacy.
“Let it be cut the way it is. It’s cut up right now. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia. You leave it the way it is right now,” Mr. Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One, apparently referring specifically to the Donbas region.
The Donbas is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The Donbas formed the historical border between the Zaporizhian Sich and the Don Cossack Host. It has been an important coal mining area since the late 19th century, when it became a heavily industrialised territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected the idea of forfeiting the Donbas, or any other occupied ground, to Moscow in the years since Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
In remarks released Monday, Zelensky said it was “very important” that the Europeans have “a unified position” with Kyiv and that they would “also address the United States in various formats.” He told reporters he planned to meet with European allies this week.
Image: DonkeyHotey
