The Telegraph: ‘Trump hands Putin Ukraine’s occupied territories’

The United States is prepared to recognise Russia’s control over Crimea and other temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine as part of efforts to reach a peace agreement, The Telegraph reports.

According to the outlet, US President Donald Trump has sent his special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to deliver a direct proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Telegraph writes that despite concerns among Ukraine’s European partners, Washington’s plan to acknowledge Russian control over the occupied territories will likely move forward.

“It is increasingly clear the Americans do not care about the European position. They say the Europeans can do whatever they want,” a source told the publication.

On November 27, Putin said that the “legal recognition” of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk as Russian territories would be one of the key issues in negotiations over the US peace proposal.

Last week, reports emerged that the United States had prepared a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine and Russia.

According to Western media, the plan included proposals for the US to de facto recognise Crimea as well as the Russian-controlled parts of Luhansk and Donetsk, along with portions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions currently under Moscow’s control.

The plan was later amended during talks in Geneva between US and Ukrainian delegations, with several points removed. Ukraine had sought to discuss the most sensitive issues directly at the leadership level, though it remains unclear when President Volodymyr Zelenskyu and Trump might meet.