Trump adviser: Ukraine should forget about Crimea and military victories.
A senior adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump has said the new US administration will focus on peacemaking in Ukraine rather than helping Kiev win back contested territory.
The Ukrainian government is advised not to be pushy when it comes to reclaiming Crimea and the like.
It is Bryan Lanza, a strategist within the Republican Party, who says in a lengthy interview with the BBC that the Trump administration will ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a “realistic vision for peace”.
“But if Zelensky comes to the negotiating table and says that we can only have peace if we get Crimea back, then he's showing us that he's not serious,” Lanza says in the interview, emphasizing, ”Crimea is over. That was in 2014.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the losses on both sides amounted to more than one million wounded or dead at the beginning of autumn.
Donald Trump has consistently stated that his priority is to end the war and reduce what he calls a humanitarian disaster and a burden on the United States as well. However, he has not yet revealed how he intends to do this and is likely to receive competing advice on the future of Ukraine from his various advisers.
Lanza, who has been Trump's political adviser since the 2016 campaign, did not mention the territories in eastern Ukraine, but said that retaking Crimea from Russia was unrealistic and that it was “not the goal of the United States”. The US priority is “peace and stopping the killing”.
“What we will say to Ukraine is: what do you think is a realistic vision for peace? It's not a vision of victory, it's a vision of peace. And let's start with an honest discussion.”
It is expected that Trump will lead the peace talks with a close circle of advisors after taking office.
Trump spoke with Zelensky after his election victory, and billionaire Elon Musk also took part in the conversation. However, what was said between the parties was not disclosed.
US Democrats accused Trump of allying himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin and warned that his approach to the war would be tantamount to a capitulation by Ukraine, which would jeopardize the security of the whole of Europe in the long term.
Last month, Zelensky presented a “victory plan” that completely ruled out giving up Ukrainian territories, including Crimea.
During his election campaign, Trump had repeatedly said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in one day”, but he never gave details on how he intended to accomplish this.
Earlier this week, Putin congratulated Trump on his election victory and said that Trump's claim that he could help end the war in Ukraine “at least deserves attention”.
Lanza also criticized the expensive support that the Biden-Harris administration and the majority of EU countries have provided to Ukraine since February 2022.
A support that, according to Lanza, combines the worst of two worlds: on the one hand, high costs for advanced equipment and, on the other, various restrictions and conditions that could force Russia to go to war with European countries and the United States.
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