Trump Says He’ll Push for Ukraine to Get ‘As Much Territory Back as Possible’

U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would push to help Ukraine regain some of its temporarily-occupied territories through negotiations. He made the remarks during the First Cabinet Meeting at the White House on February 26.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make the best deal for both sides. But for Ukraine, we’re going to try very hard to make a good deal so they can get as much [territory] back as possible. We want to get as much [territory] back to Ukraine as possible,” Trump told reporters. He added that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would have to make concessions but did not specify what they would entail.

Trump ruled out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO as part of any future peace agreement, arguing that the prospect of membership had been a catalyst for the war.

He also said the U.S. would not offer Ukraine significant security guarantees, saying that responsibility should fall to Europe. “We’ll delegate that to Europe, because, as you know, we’re talking about Europe, it’s their neighbor. But we’ll certainly make sure that it goes well,” he said, adding that Washington would support European-led peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine.

Despite his stated willingness to broker a settlement, Trump acknowledged that securing a deal between Kyiv and Moscow would be uncertain. “A lot of surprising things happen with deals,” he said.

Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the prospect of territorial concessions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated that Russia would not agree to a ceasefire along the current front line, pointing to continued Ukrainian control over parts of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions. The Kremlin annexed these regions in September 2022 and incorporated them into Russia’s Constitution.

Putin has demanded that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the occupied regions as a precondition for negotiations. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected those demands, calling them an ultimatum. While acknowledging the difficulty of retaking all occupied territory by military means, Zelensky has suggested that diplomatic efforts, including NATO membership, could play a role in reclaiming lost regions.

Earlier, the United States and Russia discussed potential economic cooperation in the Arctic, including resource exploration and emerging trade routes.