Ukrainians say they will not accept formal surrender of Crimea

Samya Kullab, Associated Press

A peace proposal by the Trump administration that includes recognising Russian authority over Crimea shocked Ukrainian officials, who say they will not accept any formal surrender of the peninsula – even though they expect to concede the territory to the Kremlin, at least temporarily.

Giving up the land that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 is also politically and legally impossible, according to experts. It would require a change to the Ukrainian constitution and a nationwide vote, and it could be considered treason.

Ukrainian politicians and the public are firmly opposed to the idea.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” said Oleksandr Merezkho, a politician with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party. “We will never recognise Crimea as part of Russia.”

[mid-content-banner]

Concession

Unlike a territorial concession, a formal surrender would permanently relinquish Crimea and abandon the hope that Ukraine could regain it in the future.

The Ukrainian public largely understands that land must be ceded as part of any armistice because there is no way to retake it militarily. Polls indicate a rising percentage of the population accepts such a trade-off.

But much of the public messaging about land concessions has suggested they are not necessarily permanent, as when Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko told the BBC recently that Ukraine may need to temporarily give up land as part of a peace deal.

Saying otherwise would effectively admit defeat – a deeply unpopular move, especially for Ukrainians living under Russian occupation who hope to be liberated and reunited with their families one day.

It also would call into question the sacrifices made by tens of thousands of Ukrainian service members who have been killed or injured.

US President Donald Trump underscored the Crimea proposal in an interview published on Friday in Time magazine: “Crimea will stay with Russia. Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time.”

His comments offered the latest example of the US leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege. Mr Trump has also accused Mr Zelensky of prolonging the war by resisting negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

[lower-mid-content-banner]

Strategic

Crimea, a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine, was seized by Russia years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. The Russian takeover followed large protests that ousted former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who had refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union.

In the lead-up to peace talks, Ukrainian officials told The Associated Press for months that they expect Crimea and other Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia to be among Kyiv’s concessions in the event of any deal. But Mr Zelensky has said on multiple occasions that formally surrendering the land has always been a red line.

Elements of Mr Trump’s peace proposal would see the US formally recognising Crimea as Russian and de facto accepting Moscow’s rule over occupied Ukrainian territories, according to a senior European official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Whether the US formally recognises Crimea as Russian is out of Mr Zelensky’s hands. But many obstacles prevent the Ukrainian president from doing so, even under immense pressure. He cannot unilaterally sign any such proposal, and he could be reprimanded by future governments for even attempting it, experts said.

Ukraine began to accept it would not regain its lost territories after the failure of the country’s 2023 summer counter-offensive. From then on, the Ukrainian military concentrated on defending the territory it still held.

In return for territorial concessions, Ukraine wants robust security guarantees that ideally would include Nato membership or concrete plans to arm and train its forces against any future Russian invasion with the pledged support of allies. One scenario envisions European boots on the ground, which Russia rejects.

Negotiations 

Mr Zelensky has said negotiations over occupied Ukrainian territory will be drawn out and will not likely occur until a ceasefire is in place. In late March, he told reporters after a call with Mr Trump that the US president “clearly understands that legally we will not recognise any territories”.

He said giving up territory would be “the most difficult question” and “a big challenge for us”.

Formal recognition of Crimea would also amount to political suicide for Mr Zelensky. It could expose him to legal action in the future, said Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics and a former economics minister.

Signing a potentially unconstitutional document could be interpreted as high treason, Mr Mylovanov said.

The Ukrainian government cannot act either. It has no constitutional means to accept a violation of its territorial integrity, and altering the territorial make-up of the country requires a nationwide referendum.

If Ukrainian politicians were even to entertain the idea of surrendering Crimea, it would trigger a long, drawn-out legal debate.

“That’s why Russia is pushing it, because they know it’s impossible to achieve,” Mr Mylovanov said.

“Anything related to constitutional change gives so much policy and public communication space to Russia. This is all they want.”

Soldiers on the front line say they will never stop fighting, no matter what the political leadership decides.

“We lost our best guys in this war,” said Oleksandr, a soldier in the Donetsk region.

“We won’t stop until all Ukrainian lands are free.”