Ahead of President Trump's face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this Friday, the president says he will be discussing the possibility of Ukraine giving up part of its territory to Russia for peace.
Recent reporting in The Telegraph suggests that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may be in favor of freezing the current lines of territory in a de facto acknowledgement of currently held Russian territory, in order to advance a cease-fire agreement.
That stance would be a new departure from messaging that has so far suggested a land exchange is not on the table for Ukraine.
In recent days, Russian forces are believed to have pushed through and intersected a key resupply and transport corridor in Ukraine in a significant advance.
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"There will be some land swapping going on," President Donald Trump said of a potential peace deal. "I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody, to the good, for the good of Ukraine. Good stuff, not bad stuff. Also some bad stuff. Or both. So it's good, and there's bad. But it's very complex because you have lines that are very uneven. There will be some swapping, there will be some changes in land. The word they will use is they make changes. We're going to change the lines, the battle lines."
"Russia's occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They've occupied some very prime territory. We're going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine," President Trump said.
Europe, meanwhile, is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting with President Trump and President Zelenskyy on Wednesday, where they hope to pressure President Trump that a deal that favors Russia would be a threat not just to Ukraine but to the security of the rest of Europe as well.
