Ultimately, it’s up to Ukraine and Russia to end the war. Our choice, as Americans, is to decide how much more we will finance and how and whether we will use our power to help bring it to an end. But this is correct. If Zelensky wants to reclaim Crimea or expand the borders of Ukraine elsewhere, then there is not a path to peace.

A senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump says the incoming administration will focus on achieving peace in Ukraine rather than enabling the country to gain back territory occupied by Russia.

 

Bryan Lanza, a Republican party strategist, told the BBC the Trump administration would ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his version of a “realistic vision for peace”.

 

“And if President Zelensky comes to the table and says, well we can only have peace if we have Crimea, he shows to us that he’s not serious,” he said. “Crimea is gone.”

 

[…]

 

Mr Lanza, Trump’s political adviser since his 2016 campaign, did not mention areas of eastern Ukraine, but he said regaining Crimea from Russia was unrealistic and “not the goal of the United States”.

 

“When Zelensky says we will only stop this fighting, there will only be peace once Crimea is returned, we’ve got news for President Zelensky: Crimea is gone,” he told the BBC World Service’s Weekend programme.

 

“And if that is your priority of getting Crimea back and having American soldiers fight to get Crimea back, you’re on your own.”