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Trump Says Donetsk Region Should “Stay Divided as It Is,” Claims Russia Holds 78% of Region
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region should “stay divided as it is,” claiming that “78% of the land is already taken by Russia,” according to comments made aboard Air Force One and cited by Reuters on October 20.
Two sources familiar with Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the talks as strained and confusing, particularly when Trump suggested that security guarantees should apply to both Ukraine and Russia.
One of the sources said the conversation left Kyiv’s delegation “disappointed,” adding, “It was pretty bad,” one of the sources said of the meeting. The message was, “'Your country will freeze, and your country will be destroyed'” if Ukraine doesn’t make a deal with Russia.
Another source, however, denied that Trump had used the word “destroyed.”
During the same trip, Trump called for a ceasefire along the current front lines—effectively freezing the war where it stands—a proposal he reportedly developed during the meeting itself after Zelenskyy reaffirmed that Ukraine would not voluntarily cede territory to Moscow.
“We think that what they should do is just stop at the lines where they are, the battle lines,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
“The rest is very tough to negotiate if you’re going to say, ‘You take this, we take that.’ Let it be cut the way it is. It’s cut up right now. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia. You leave it the way it is right now. They can negotiate something later on down the line.”
Zelenskyy had reportedly hoped to secure US approval for long-range Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep inside Russia, but Trump declined to commit. Vice President JD Vance later confirmed to reporters that no decision had been made.
Earlier, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will not “give or forget anything” to Russia, stressing that Kyiv continues to strengthen its defense and energy cooperation with international partners.
