Ukraine: Won't Accept Crimea Surrender 04/28 06:09

   A peace proposal by the Trump administration that includes recognizing 
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.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- A peace proposal by the Trump administration that 
includes recognizing 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. Lawmakers and the public are firmly opposed to the idea.

   "It doesn't mean anything," said Oleksandr Merezkho, a lawmaker with 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's party. "We will never recognize 
Crimea as part of Russia."

   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 that 
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 wounded.

   U.S. President Donald Trump underscored the Crimea proposal in an interview 
published Friday in Time magazine: "Crimea will stay with Russia. Zelenskyy 
understands that, and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long 
time."

   Asked by reporters on Sunday if Zelenskyy was ready to give up Crimea, Trump 
said, "Oh, I think so. Crimea was 12 years ago. That was President Obama that 
gave it up without a shot being fired."

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

   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 Zelenskyy 
has said on multiple occasions that formally surrendering the land has always 
been a red line.

   Elements of Trump's peace proposal would see the U.S. formally recognizing 
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 to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions.

   Whether the U.S. formally recognizes Crimea as Russian is out of Zelenskyy'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 that it would not regain its lost territories after 
the failure of the country's 2023 summer counteroffensive. 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.

   Zelenskyy 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 Trump that the U.S. president 
"clearly understands that legally we will not recognize 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 
Zelenskyy. 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, 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 makeup of the country requires a nationwide referendum.

   If Ukrainian lawmakers 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," Mylovanov said.

   "Anything related to constitutional change gives so much policy and public 
communication space to Russia," he added. "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, who spoke on the condition that only his first name be used in 
line with military protocols. "We won't stop until all Ukrainian lands are 
free."