Trump Concedes Post-War Ukraine Will Have A ‘Different Shape’ Ahead Of Trilateral Talks

Just ahead of scheduled trilateral negotiations involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States set for this week, President Trump has made some comments that are very bad for the Zelensky government.

He suggested that Ukraine’s territory is likely to change as part of a future agreement with Russia – despite President Zelensky having consistently rejected that Ukraine will cede territory in the east.

“I think we’re going to have it done and I think it’s going to happen, and they’re going to end up with a little bit different shape (for) Ukraine,” Trump has told CBS’s 60 Minutes in a fresh interview.

“There’s a very important meeting taking place,” Trump said additionally. “I believe that that war is going to end and it’s going to end soon. And the only reason it’s going to end is because of me.”

The US-mediated talks are set to begin in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, and will run through Wednesday. Trump expressed optimism that these talks will produce a tangible outcome toward peace.

However, he didn’t eleborate on what Ukraine’s “different” future shape might look like. From the Kremlin’s point of view, and given the current status of the battlefeld, the annexed territories in the Donbass are under Russia sovereignty.

Washington might finally be ready to recognize that Russia is not ever going to exit Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia – and also certainly will never relinguish hold over the Crimea.

The issue of territory and political recognition remains Russia’s main sticking point in negotiations, along with Ukraine never joining the NATO alliance. Over the past year or so, Moscow has further framed its troops expanse inside Ukraine as necesary to establish a permanent security ‘buffer zone’ amid ongong long-range drone attacks targeting Russian territory.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also recently addressed the crisis ahead of the Abu Dhabi talks.

“What is the postwar security infrastructure of Ukraine and more broadly of the European continent going to look like?” Rubio posed to reporters just before going to a G7 meeting.

“I think that’s what the president’s alluding to – is that there’s been some advances made in what that architecture could look like post-conflict,” he added.

As for Europe, it apparently won’t be totally sidelined in the trilateral talks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has confirmed there will be EU representation at the talks. 

France is also expected to have officials directly present – though its unclear if the EU will be given a seat at the main table. European leaders have long worried that Washingon and Moscow could cut the EU out of negotiations altogether, given this has not been a priority for Trump.