NEW YORK, March 17. /TASS/. The administration of US President Donald Trump is considering officially recognizing Crimea as Russian territory within the framework of a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, the Semafor portal wrote citing its own sources.
According to the report, the US administration is also discussing the possibility of asking the United Nations to follow suit.
However, Trump has not yet made up his mind on the matter, the portal said.
Earlier, the Canada-based The Globe and Mail newspaper reported, citing a source, that to get a Ukraine deal done, the US is ready to recognize a number of territories as a part of Russia, but it is also seeking to benefit itself by securing the rights to billions of dollars worth of Ukraine's natural resources.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with senior Foreign Ministry officials in June 2024 that Moscow was ready to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His terms included Ukraine recognizing the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as parts of Russia; the move to guarantee Ukraine’s non-bloc and non-nuclear status, along with the country’s demilitarization and denazification, and the lifting of sanctions on Moscow. Putin stressed that Russia would be ready to end military operations once Ukraine withdrew all of its forces from the DPR, LPR, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions.
The Donetsk People's Republic, the Lugansk People's Republic, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions became part of Russia following referendums held there on September 23-27, 2022. Crimea and Sevastopol became part of the country after a referendum held in March 2014.