Zelenskyy reminds Trump of 2018 Crimea Declaration that contradicts his recent stance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the 2018 Crimea Declaration in a recent post on X amid growing disagreements over the peninsula’s status in potential peace negotiations.

The declaration, issued during Donald Trump’s first term, explicitly rejected Russia’s annexation of Crimea and committed the US to supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

This comes after the US President Donald Trump intensified pressure on Zelenskyy to accept a peace proposal that would recognize Crimea as Russian territory and acknowledge Russian control over parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

President Trump framed the plan as a final offer, asserting that Ukraine had “no cards to play” and warning that rejecting the deal could lead to the loss of the entire country. He also argued that Crimea “was lost many years ago” and questioned why Ukrainians didn’t fight for the peninsula when it was initially seized in 2014.

Zelenskyy firmly rejected the proposal, insisting on a full, unconditional ceasefire before any negotiations on territorial or political terms. The US proposal also includes lifting sanctions on Russia and barring Ukraine from NATO membership, but lacks concrete security guarantees for Kyiv.

In his social media post, Zelenskyy included a screenshot of the 2018 Crimea declaration without direct commentary on its contents.

He instead focused on recent diplomatic meetings in London between Ukrainian, American, British, French, and German representatives.

“The sides expressed their views and respectfully received each other’s positions. It’s important that each side was not just a participant but contributed meaningfully. The American side shared its vision. Ukraine and other Europeans presented their inputs. And we hope that it is exactly such joint work that will lead to lasting peace,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Zelenskyy expressed hope that this collaborative approach would lead to lasting peace, while emphasizing that Ukraine would continue to act in accordance with its Constitution.

“We are absolutely sure that our partners in particular the USA will act in line with its strong decisions,” he stated.

High-level peace talks in London were supposed to take place on 23 April, but collapsed when the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio withdrew from the negotiations, prompting similar cancellations from France and Germany amid reports about Ukraine’s firm rejection of recognizing Crimea as Russian.

Despite the setback, Ukraine’s delegation, including top officials, proceeded with bilateral discussions with the UK.

2018 US Crimea policy that contradicts current stance

The 2018 Crimea Declaration, published after the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki on 16 July 2018, reinforced the international principle that no country should change borders by force.

The document, issued by the United States Department of State on 25 July, affirmed that Washington does not recognize and will not recognize Russia’s claim to Crimea.

At that time, President Trump stated that his meeting with Putin was “one of the best ever.”

The declaration cited the Welles Declaration of 1940, which refused to recognize the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states, drawing a direct historical parallel to the Crimea situation.