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One of Ukraine’s most prominent politicians, Kyiv mayor and former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, has conceded that his country may have to give up territory to Russia if it wants to achieve a peace deal — a major departure from the policies of his country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The comments came the same day as Donald Trump said in an interview released Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” the latest example of the U.S. president pressuring Ukraine to concede land to Russian invaders.
“Zelenskyy understands that,” Trump said, referring to the strategic Crimean Peninsula, which Russian illegally annexed in 2014. “Everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time.
The Ukrainian government has repeatedly ruled out relinquishing land to Moscow. That’s left a gulf between its position and that of Russia and the Trump administration, which is brokering the talks and whose envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
The meeting came at around the same time as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying in a post on X that it was “clear” that at least one of Russia’s sweeping strikes on Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday involved “a ballistic missile from North Korea.”
If confirmed, that would suggest that Pyongyang is sending materiel — as well as thousands of troops — to Russia’s western front and signal broadening support for Moscow from one of the West’s most bellicose and secretive foes.
In his long post Friday, Zelenskyy, said that while Ukraine had agreed to the Trump administration’s proposed ceasefire 45 days ago, “Russia rejects all of this. That is why this cannot be resolved without pressure. Pressure on Russia is necessary.”
Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser in Zelenskyy’s office, told the BBC that the comments on ceding territory earlier Friday by Klitschko were “counterproductive.”
Klitschko told the BBC early in the day when discussing ceasefire options that “one of the scenarios is to give up territory.”
“It’s not fair,” he added, “but for the peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution, temporary.”
Trump, who has often been accused of being more lenient on Russia than Ukraine, insisted to journalists Thursday that “you don’t know what pressure I’m putting on Russia” — without elaborating. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, said the Kremlin was “ready to reach a deal” but that some details needed to be “fine-tuned.”
It’s those details that have so far been irreconcilable between the parties.
As a president who once promised he could achieve peace in 24 hours, Trump eagerly wants to land a deal, particularly as he marks his first 100 days in office next week.
Russia is hesitant to give up what it sees as its battlefield and diplomatic advantage — including an amenable president in the White House — according to regional analysts. And Ukraine is reluctant to sign an agreement that it believes will bring both painful territorial concessions and vulnerability to future attacks by the Kremlin.
Klitschko and Zelenskyy are political opponents who have clashed before. But the Kyiv mayor is now one of the most prominent Ukrainian politicians to suggest that these demands could soften.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and his forces currently control around a fifth of its territory, including Crimea. Zelenskyy reiterated his stance Thursday, saying there was “nothing to talk about” when it came to relinquishing territory on a more permanent basis. “It is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” he said.
That stance had already prompted an angry reaction this week from Trump, who on social media Wednesday accused Zelenskyy of making “inflammatory statements” by refusing to cede land for peace.
As well as diplomatically, Ukraine is under pressure on the front lines and in the skies, where Russia continues its nightly bombardment of civilians.
The Kremlin launched more than 100 drones overnight into Friday, killing at least three people in the Dnipropetrovsk region and two more in Kherson, the Ukrainian air force said. Rescuers had only just finished picking through the rubble of the previous night’s attack, an even larger bombardment that killed 12 in Kyiv and injured more than 80, according to officials.
As well as insisting he was putting pressure on Putin, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that “I didn’t like last night. I wasn’t happy with it, and we’re in the midst of talking peace, and missiles were fired.”
That came hours after he issued a rare rebuke to Putin, whose military had rained missiles on Kyiv and other cities overnight into Thursday, telling his Russian counterpart, “Vladimir, STOP!” on Truth Social.
Trump has this week dispatched one of his envoys, Witkoff, for a new round of talks with the Russian leader. The two met for three hours, according to Putin’s aide on foreign policy, Yuri Ushakov.
“This conversation allowed to bring positions of Russia and the United States closer together not only on Ukraine, but also on a number of other international matters,” Ushakov said in a statement.
“I would like to note that in accordance with the agreement reached by the presidents of Russia and the United States, productive Russian-American dialogue at various levels will continue in the most active mode,” he added.
Witkoff did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday that the two officials had “a pretty good meeting,” adding that he was expecting a call from Witkoff to further discuss its outcome.
Trump also said in a post to his social media site Truth Social that Ukraine hadn’t yet signed an agreement with the United States on rare earth minerals.
“It is at least three weeks late,” Trump wrote. “Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY. Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future!”
Alexander Smith reported from London and Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv.
Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based in London.
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Crimea 'will stay with Russia' Trump says, as Kyiv mayor breaks ranks to suggest ceding territory – NBC News
