Overview

• After an August 15 meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, US President Donald Trump wrote on social media that, for Ukraine, there is “no getting back” Crimea.
• Moscow continues to seek international recognition of its 2014 annexation, and Putin reportedly told Trump that any peace deal would hinge on such acknowledgment.
• Kyiv maintains it will not legally recognize Russian control of the peninsula, and Ukraine’s constitution allows ceding territory only through a nationwide referendum.
• Unnamed sources cited by RFE/RL say the current US administration may be open to recognizing Russian control as part of a potential deal, a possibility that remains unconfirmed and would make the United States the first Western country to do so.
• Crimea remains a strategic battleground for control of the Black Sea, with Ukraine striking Russian targets there since 2022, including a June 2025 attack on the Kerch Bridge reported by the Associated Press.