Ukraine willing to ‘de facto give up’ land to Russia – Trump envoy

Keith Kellogg says Kiev wants to hold the current front line

Kiev has agreed to acknowledge Russia’s control over Crimea and four other regions – without formally recognizing Moscow’s sovereignty over them – according to US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Keith Kellogg.

During an interview on Wednesday, Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum asked Kellogg whether the US could accept Moscow’s demand that Ukraine renounce claims to territories it considers under Russian occupation.

“Partially, yes,” Kellogg replied. “Look, the Ukrainians, Martha, have already said—they’re willing to give up the land… not de jure – forever – but de facto because the Russians actually occupied it. They’ve agreed to that,” he said. “They told me that last week.”

Kellogg added that Ukraine wants a ceasefire that would mean “you sit on the ground that you currently hold.”

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The envoy said he met with Ukrainian officials in London on April 23 and that they had agreed to “22 concrete terms” presented by the US, including a 30-day comprehensive ceasefire. He urged Moscow to “pick up on” the proposal.

Russia, however, has maintained that a full ceasefire would require Ukraine to halt its mobilization campaign and stop accepting military aid from abroad. President Vladimir Putin further demanded that Kiev withdraw troops from the Russian territories it still claims. Moscow has accused Ukraine of repeatedly violating the 30-day “energy truce” brokered by Trump in March, as well as last month’s 30-hour Easter truce.

Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia shortly after the 2014 U.S.-backed coup in Kiev. The Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, along with the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, followed suit after referendums in 2022. Ukraine and the European Union have consistently stated that they do not recognize the five regions as Russian territory.

The agreement proposed by Washington reportedly includes US recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, freezing the conflict along the current front line, and acknowledging Moscow’s control over large parts of the four other former Ukrainian regions. The deal would also reportedly block Ukraine from joining NATO and initiate a phased removal of sanctions imposed on Russia.