Moscow has said it will not entertain negotiations over its territory in talks with the US and Ukraine. For Putin and his government, Crimea is Russian. It is an important strategic hub, hosting both naval and submarine bases crucial for the country’s presence in the Black Sea.

For over a decade, successive U.S. administrations, including Trump’s first, decried Russia’s armed seizure of Crimea in 2014 and said they would never recognize the land grab

The president called for a peace deal to be “DONE” after claiming it was “harder” to negotiate with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.