Republican operative tells BBC that peace, not regaining territory from Russia

10/11/2024 6:59

        Donald Trump's presidential transition effort said on
        Saturday that a Republican operative who outlined some potential
        contours of a U.S.-backed peace plan in Ukraine earlier in the
        day was not speaking on behalf of the president-elect.
        
        Bryan Lanza, a long-time Republican strategist who was a
        contractor on Trump's 2024 campaign, said in an interview with
        the BBC that Trump's administration would be asking Ukrainian
        President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a "realistic vision for
        peace."
        
        He said the new administration's priority in Ukraine would
        be establishing peace and not restoring lost territory,
        including Crimea.
        
        "And if President Zelenskiy comes to the table and says,
        well we can only have peace if we have Crimea, he shows to us
        that he's not serious. Crimea is gone," he said.
        Responding to Lanza's comments, a spokesperson for the
        transition denied that Lanza spoke for Trump. Trump's transition
        effort is currently vetting personnel and drafting the policies
        that Trump could adopt during his second term.
        
        "Bryan Lanza was a contractor for the campaign," said the
        spokesperson, who declined to be named.
        
        "He does not work for President Trump and does not speak
        for him."
        
        During the election campaign, Trump said he would find a
        solution to end the war "within a day," but did not explain how
        he would do so.
        
        Zelenskiy and Trump spoke by telephone this week after the
        U.S. election in a conversation joined by billionaire Trump
        supporter Elon Musk, according to media reports.
        
        Trump himself has declined to rule out the possibility that
        Ukraine may have to cede land to Russia and has been notably
        vague when discussing the conflict. Some high-profile allies
        have put forth peace proposals that would in practice result in
        long-term Russian rule over areas that are internationally
        recognized as Ukrainian territory.
        
        Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014 after an
        uprising that prompted Ukraine's Russia-friendly president to
        flee. More than 2 1/2 years after launching its full-fledged
        invasion, Russian forces hold just under 20% of its territory.
        
        Zelenskiy has repeatedly said peace cannot be established
        until all Russian forces are expelled and all territory captured
        by Moscow, including Crimea, is returned. His "victory plan"
        presented last month maintains that provision as well as an
        invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, long denounced by Russia.
        
        Ukraine has sought modern weapons from the United States as
        well as authorisation to use them on Russian targets but it has
        never called for U.S. forces to be deployed on its territory.
        
        Russian troops failed in their initial advance on the
        Ukrainian capital Kyiv but in recent months have been capturing
        a string of villages on the eastern front.
        
        Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June that
        conditions for peace talks included Ukraine abandoning the four
        regions Moscow has annexed, though it does not have full control
        over them.