Trump Reportedly Backs Ceding Ukrainian Territory to Russia in Pursuit of Peace Deal

Donald Trump is reportedly prepared to support a plan that would see Ukraine cede parts of its territory to Russia in exchange for an end to the ongoing war, according to leaks from post-summit discussions with European leaders.

The New York Times cited senior European officials who said Trump told them he believed peace could be reached if Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to give up the eastern Donbas region. The area, made up of Donetsk and Luhansk, remains fiercely contested despite more than three years of fighting.

Sources familiar with the Alaska talks told the Guardian that Russian president Vladimir Putin pressed Trump to secure Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donbas in return for freezing the frontline elsewhere, particularly in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. While Luhansk is almost entirely under Russian occupation, Ukraine still holds key cities in Donetsk, including Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. The defense of these positions has come at enormous human cost.

Trump reportedly voiced support for moving directly to a peace agreement, rather than first pursuing a temporary ceasefire. Writing on social media, he argued that ceasefires “often do not hold up” and that a negotiated deal would be more durable.

The proposal marks a sharp break with Ukraine’s leadership and many European allies, who reject the idea of conceding territory seized or claimed by Moscow. European officials stressed that any decision about Ukraine’s borders must be made by Kyiv itself.

In a joint statement, leaders including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, and UK prime minister Keir Starmer reiterated that “international borders must not be changed by force.” Still, they welcomed Trump’s efforts to “stop the killing in Ukraine” and work toward “just and lasting peace.”

Zelenskyy, set to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, pushed back against concessions, insisting peace must be genuine and sustainable. “The killings must stop as soon as possible… All Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians must be released, and the children abducted by Russia must be returned,” he said.

European leaders are due to hold further talks with Zelenskyy on Sunday ahead of his White House visit. Despite Trump’s optimism that “all” leaders agreed to move directly to peace negotiations, European capitals continue to express caution, wary that bypassing a ceasefire could hand Moscow the upper hand.

The situation underscores the divisions between Washington, Kyiv, and Europe over how to end Russia’s war – and whether territorial compromise should ever be part of that solution.