Tom O'Connor
The fast-moving developments in President Donald Trump's near-back-to-back summits with the heads of Russia, Ukraine and European powers have raised two items increasingly positioned as critical to ending the war between Moscow and Kyiv: territorial exchanges and security guarantees.
While the latest talks held Monday between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of the Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO did not produce an agreement to end the three-and-a-half-year war, the gathering laid the groundwork for a long-anticipated trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump met in Alaska on Friday.
Perhaps most notably, however, the U.S. leader did not walk back from the position of Ukraine needing to offer territorial concessions as part of an eventual settlement, a stance long opposed by Kyiv and its European backers.
"We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact," Trump said during a press engagement alongside Zelensky and European counterparts.
With Ukraine currently not in control over substantial amounts of Russian territory, its limited cross-border offensives having largely been pulled back earlier this year, Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis at the Defense Priorities think tank, said the comments were indicative of a broader reality that has set in over the conflict.
"Ukraine will have to cede some territory to end the war, the question is how much and how," Kavanagh told Newsweek. "At the very least, it will not go back to its pre-2022 borders. Crimea will not be returned to Ukraine."
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