The United States is poised to recognise Russia’s control over Crimea and other occupied Ukrainian territories to secure a deal to end the war.
The Telegraph understands that Donald Trump has sent his peace envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to make the direct offer to Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The plan to recognise territory, which breaks US diplomatic convention, is likely to go ahead despite concerns among Ukraine’s European allies.
One well-placed source said: “It’s increasingly clear the Americans don’t care about the European position. They say the Europeans can do whatever they want.”
Russia’s President on Thursday said Washington’s legal recognition of Crimea and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as Russian territory would be one of the key issues in negotiations over the US President’s peace plan.
The Kremlin on Friday said it had received a revised strategy for ending the war drawn up after emergency talks between Ukrainian and American officials in Geneva, Switzerland, last weekend.
An initial 28-point peace plan, formulated by Witkoff after discussions with Russian officials, offered America’s “de facto” recognition of Crimea and the two eastern Donbas regions.
The strategy also proposed “de facto” recognition of Russian-held land behind the line of contact in Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions after any ceasefire agreement.
In Geneva, Ukrainian and US officials negotiated a new 19-point plan, which is less favourable to Moscow.
But multiple sources have suggested that American offers of recognition have remained as part of the strategy.
Kyiv would not be forced to recognise Russia’s control over the territories it has illegally annexed since 2014. The Ukrainian constitution prevents any president or government from ceding territory without first posing the question to voters in a nationwide referendum.
Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian President’s chief of staff, and Rustem Umerov, his national security adviser, were expected to fly to Florida to meet US officials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort this weekend. However, on Friday Yermak resigned from his position after anti-corruption officers raided his home.
Zelenskyy said the process to select a new chief of staff will begin on Saturday.
Before he resigned, Yermak – who negotiated the latest peace plan – said: “Not a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory.
“As long as Zelenskyy is President, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory.
“The constitution prohibits this. Nobody can do that unless they want to go against the Ukrainian constitution and the Ukrainian people.”
The latest proposal leaves blank spaces for the most contentious issues, including any final territorial concessions, to be filled in only after face-to-face talks between Zelenskyy and Trump.
The Ukrainian President has not yet said when he will travel to either Washington or Florida to meet his American counterpart.
Washington’s apparent offer of recognition has caused concern among its European allies, who have repeatedly ruled out backing a peace deal that condones borders being redrawn by force.
After a meeting of the coalition of the willing on Wednesday, its leaders said: “They were clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. This remains one of the fundamental principles for preserving stability and peace in Europe and beyond.”
A European counter-proposal to the original 28-point plan made no recommendation to recognise Russian control over Ukrainian territory.
“Territorial issues will be discussed and resolved after a full and unconditional ceasefire,” it proposed.
Until now, the US and Europe have refused to recognise Russia’s control over Crimea, the peninsula that Putin illegally annexed in 2014.
It would mark a break from diplomatic convention by Washington to offer legitimacy over stolen territory, favourable to an aggressor state.
In a new national security strategy document published by the Kremlin, Putin promises to integrate areas of occupied Ukraine into the Russian system within a decade.
Moscow announced its annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in September 2022, despite having never fully conquered the Ukrainian territories.
The Kremlin’s continued push for control over the oblasts shows that Putin has not once considered making concessions to end almost four years of brutal conflict in Ukraine.
The latest revelations will also heighten fears in Europe that a suboptimal deal to end the war will be forced on Kyiv by Washington.
In recent days, leaked phone calls showed how Trump’s lead negotiator, Witkoff, was found to have coached Russian officials on how to court the White House. The leaked conversations with Russian negotiators referred to the need for Ukraine to give up Donetsk.
Open source intelligence experts have suggested a European agency could have disclosed this information to expose the blossoming relationship between the presidential aide and the Kremlin.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said: “The United States continues to have robust discussions with the Russians and Ukrainians.
“Any reporting about these sensitive diplomatic conversations should be deemed speculative until it comes directly from the President or his national security team.”
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