The United States is prepared to recognize Russian control over Crimea and other occupied Ukrainian territories as part of a deal to end the war, The Telegraph reports. President Donald Trump has dispatched peace envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to Moscow to present the offer directly to Vladimir Putin.
The proposal breaks with longstanding US diplomatic convention by offering legitimacy to territory seized by force. Putin said on 27 November that Washington's legal recognition of Crimea and the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts would be among the key issues in peace negotiations.
According to The Telegraph, a well-placed source indicated a shift in the American approach: "It's increasingly clear the Americans don't care about the European position. They say the Europeans can do whatever they want."
The Kremlin confirmed on 28 November it received a revised peace strategy following emergency talks between Ukrainian and American officials in Geneva last weekend. An initial 28-point plan drafted by Witkoff after discussions with Russian officials proposed "de facto" recognition of Crimea and two eastern Donbas oblasts, along with Russian-held land behind the line of contact in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts after any ceasefire.
Point 21 of the leaked plan states: "Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognised as de facto Russian, including by the United States." It adds that "Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be frozen along the line of contact, which will mean de facto recognition along the line of contact."
The Geneva negotiations produced a new 19-point plan less favorable to Moscow, but multiple sources told The Telegraph that American offers of recognition remained part of the strategy.
Ukraine would not be required to recognize Russian control over the illegally annexed territories. The Ukrainian constitution prevents any president or government from ceding territory without a nationwide referendum.
Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff who negotiated the latest plan, told The Atlantic: "Not a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory. As long as Zelenskyy is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory."
"The constitution prohibits this. Nobody can do that unless they want to go against the Ukrainian constitution and the Ukrainian people," Yermak said.
The latest proposal leaves blank spaces for contentious issues, including final territorial concessions, to be filled only after face-to-face talks between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump. Zelenskyy has not said when he will travel to Washington or Florida for the meeting.
Yermak and national security adviser Rustem Umerov were expected to fly to Mar-a-Lago this weekend to meet US officials.
Washington's apparent recognition offer has caused concern among European allies who have repeatedly ruled out backing any peace deal that condones borders being redrawn by force. After Wednesday's coalition of the willing meeting, leaders said: "They were clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. This remains one of the fundamental principles for preserving stability and peace in Europe and beyond."
A European counter-proposal to the original 28-point plan made no recommendation to recognize Russian control over Ukrainian territory. "Territorial issues will be discussed and resolved after a full and unconditional ceasefire," it stated.
The US and Europe have refused to recognize Russian control over Crimea since Putin illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014. American recognition would mark a break from diplomatic convention by offering legitimacy to stolen territory in favor of an aggressor state.
Moscow announced annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in September 2022 despite never fully conquering the territories. A new national security strategy document published by the Kremlin shows Putin promises to integrate occupied Ukrainian areas into the Russian system within a decade.
Recent leaked phone calls revealed Witkoff coached Russian officials on how to court the White House. The leaked conversations with Russian negotiators referred to Ukraine needing to give up Donetsk. Open source intelligence experts suggested a European agency may have disclosed this information to expose the relationship between the presidential aide and the Kremlin.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "The United States continues to have robust discussions with the Russians and Ukrainians. Any reporting about these sensitive diplomatic conversations should be deemed speculative until it comes directly from the president or his national security team."
