Former adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, says the incoming administration is more focused on achieving peace in Ukraine than allowing the country to regain territory occupied by Russia.
Bryan Lanza, a former Trump campaign manager, told the BBC that the incoming administration will ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his “realistic vision of peace”.
“If President Zelensky says that we can’t have peace until we have Crimea then he is not serious,” said he. “Crimea has disappeared.”
A spokesperson for Trump dissociated the incoming President from the remarks by saying that Mr Lanza did not “speak for him”.
In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea. Eight years later it launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine, occupying territory in the east.
The president-elect said that his priority was to end the conflict and stop what he characterized as a drain on US resource, in the form military aid to Ukraine.
He has not yet revealed how he plans to do this, and his advisers will likely have different visions of Ukraine’s future.
Mr Lanza was a Trump adviser during the 2016 and 2024 presidential campaigns. He did not mention eastern Ukraine but said that regaining Crimea back from Russia is unrealistic and “not a goal of the United States”.
“When Zelensky claims that we will only stop these fighting and there will be peace only when Crimea is returned, then we have some bad news for President Zelensky. Crimea has gone,” he said to the BBC World Service Weekend programme.
“And if it is your priority to get Crimea and have American soldiers fight for Crimea, you are on your own.”
Kyiv has never requested American troops to fight for it in Ukraine. Ukraine has only asked for American military aid to equip its own soldiers.
Mr Lanza expressed his deep respect for the Ukrainians, whose “hearts were made of lions”. He said that the US priority is “peace and stopping the killing”.
“What we are going to tell Ukraine is: You know what you see?” What is your realistic vision of peace? It’s not about winning, it’s about peace. Let’s have an honest conversation,” he said.
Dmytro Litvyn, Zelensky’s adviser, responded by claiming that Mr Lanza’s remarks were putting pressure on Ukraine to achieve peace when “Putin wants more war“.
“Putin’s people are wiped out in the frontal assaults. What does this mean? He said, “It is obvious that he will continue to fight.”
“Ukraine offers peace since 2022. These are realistic proposals.” It is Russia who must be convinced that peace is necessary and that it must be reliable so that Russian strikes do not repeat themselves.
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team, which prepares incoming administrations for office, said Mr Lanza is “a contractor for this campaign”, but that he “doesn’t work for President Trump or speak for him”.
Trump will likely handle peace negotiations with a small group of close aides after he takes office.
Unnamed National Security Council aide, who served under Trump in the past, told the Wall Street Journal that anyone who claims to have an alternative view or a more detailed window into Trump’s plans on Ukraine “simply doesn’t know what they are talking about.”
They said the former president had “made his own decisions on national security matters” and done so “many, many times in the heat of the moment”.
Elon Musk, a billionaire, joined Trump in the conversation after Trump’s election victory.
According to a source in the Ukrainian presidential office, the “good long conversation” between Zelensky & Trump lasted “about 30 minutes”.
“It wasn’t really a conversation where we talked about very substantive things, but it was overall very warm and pleasant.”
Trump’s Democratic critics have accused him cosying up with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said that his approach to the conflict amounts to a surrender for Ukraine which will endanger Europe as a whole.
The Estonian prime minister told the BBC that “Russia’s appetite” will only increase if Ukraine gives up the conflict.
Kristen Michal said on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, “The question is probably that if you begin to give up, you should be willing to give more.”
“It’s understandable for Russia that if you draw an invisible line and use force to back it, they’ll also back down, but not politely, that’s not the idea.”
Zelensky, who was elected to the Ukrainian Parliament last month, presented a “victory” plan that included a refusal of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territories.
During his campaign for president, Trump said repeatedly that he could end “the war” between Russia and Ukraine in a single day. He never provided any further details.
In a paper published in May, two of his former national-security chiefs said that the US should continue to supply weapons but condition it on Kyiv starting peace talks with Russia.
The paper stated that Ukraine should not give in to Russian occupation and should instead negotiate on the basis of current front lines.
Putin congratulated Trump earlier this week on his election win and said that Trump’s claim he could help end the conflict in Ukraine “deserves at least attention”.
Mr Lanza also criticised support given to Ukraine by the Biden-Harris Administration and European countries since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
He said: “The reality is that the European nation-states and President Biden failed to give Ukraine the ability and arms to win this battle at the very start and failed to remove the restrictions to allow Ukraine to win.”
The US House of Representatives approved earlier this year a $61bn package (PS49bn), in military aid, for Ukraine to combat Russia’s invasion.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (a German research organization), the US is the largest arms supplier to Ukraine. Between February 2022 and the final day of June 2024 it delivered or committed equipment and weapons worth $55.5bn.
Clarification: This article was amended to reflect the fact that Bryan Lanza ceased to work as an adviser for the Trump campaign following the election.
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