President Donald Trump said late last month he was disappointed with Russia for launching missile strikes while efforts were underway to broker a peace agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Speaking with reporters before boarding Air Force One, Trump addressed a wide range of topics, including the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, negotiations with Iran, and the recent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Trump noted that his meeting with Zelenskyy ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral had gone “very well.”
“We’ll see what happens over the next few days,” Trump said at the time. “I was very disappointed that missiles were flying, by Russia…very disappointed.”
Trump said that Zelenskyy brought up Crimea during their meeting, calling it a key point of contention for the Ukrainian leader.
Reports indicate that U.S. officials have floated a potential ceasefire proposal that would include recognizing Russia’s control of Crimea—territory it annexed in 2014—and freezing current frontlines. However, Zelenskyy has made it clear that Crimea remains a non-negotiable red line.
In 2022, Zelenskyy said the Russian war against Ukraine and against the entire free Europe “began with Crimea and must end with Crimea – and its liberation,” according to a report from Axios.
Zelenskyy reaffirmed his government’s position, dismissing any proposal that would acknowledge Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Trump, meanwhile, placed the blame for the loss of Crimea on the prior U.S. administrations of Presidents Obama and Biden, criticizing their handling of the region.
“Crimea was given away by Barack Hussein Obama, and by Biden, like 11 or 12 years ago. That’s a long time ago,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know how he could bring up Crimea, because that’s been a long time. Nobody brought it up for 12 years, and now they’re bringing it up now. So, I told them, I told him, he should maybe go back to Obama, ask him why they gave it up. They gave it without a shot being fired by him.”
As far as current negotiations about reaching peace, Trump said he wanted Putin to “stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal.”
“We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it and be done with it,” the president said.
Trump went on to say that the U.S. is respected once again after he took office.