Trump ally says Ukraine’s focus must be peace, not territory
A former adviser to President-elect Donald Trump says the incoming administration will prioritize securing peace in Ukraine, rather than focusing on helping the country regain territories occupied by Russia.
Bryan Lanza, who was involved in Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, told the BBC that the new administration would ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a “realistic vision for peace.”
“If President Zelensky insists that peace is only possible with the return of Crimea, it shows he’s not serious,” Lanza stated. “Crimea is lost.”
A spokesperson for Trump quickly distanced the incoming president from Lanza’s comments, clarifying that Lanza “does not speak for him.”
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and in 2022, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, occupying additional territories in the east.
Trump has consistently emphasized that his primary goal is to end the war and reduce what he describes as the drain on U.S. resources through military aid to Ukraine. However, he has yet to outline his specific approach, with differing perspectives likely to emerge from his advisers.
Lanza, who has worked with Trump during both his 2016 and 2024 campaigns, did not address the situation in eastern Ukraine but argued that reclaiming Crimea from Russia was unrealistic and “not the goal of the United States.”
“When Zelensky says peace will only come if Crimea is returned, we need to tell him: Crimea is gone,” Lanza told BBC World Service’s Weekend program. “And if that’s your priority—getting Crimea back and having American soldiers fight for it—you’re on your own.”
While the U.S. has not deployed soldiers to Ukraine, nor has Kyiv requested U.S. troops, Ukraine has sought American military aid to support its forces.
Lanza expressed deep respect for the Ukrainian people, describing them as “lion-hearted,” but stressed that the U.S. focus was on securing peace and ending the conflict. “We need to ask Ukraine what they see as a realistic path to peace, not victory, but peace. Let’s have an honest conversation,” he said.
In response, Zelensky’s adviser Dmytro Lytvyn criticized Lanza’s comments, accusing him of pressuring Ukraine for peace while it was Russia, under Vladimir Putin, that was pushing for continued war. Lytvyn pointed out that Putin’s forces had suffered significant casualties, indicating Russia’s desire to keep fighting.
“Ukraine has been proposing peace since 2022 with realistic plans,” he said. “It’s Russia that needs to hear that peace is necessary, and it must be durable to prevent further Russian aggression.”
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team clarified that Lanza, though involved in the campaign, did not hold a formal position in the incoming administration and did not speak for Trump. The president-elect is expected to handle peace negotiations with a select group of advisers once in office.
An unnamed National Security Council aide who previously served under Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday: “Anyone – no matter how senior in Trump’s circle – who claims to have a different view or more detailed window into his plans on Ukraine simply doesn’t know what he or she is talking about.”
They said that the former president “makes his own calls on national security issues” and had done so “many times in the moment”.
Trump spoke to Zelensky after his election win, with billionaire Elon Musk also taking part in the call.
A source in Ukraine’s presidential office told the BBC that the “good lengthy conversation” between Zelensky and Trump lasted “about half an hour”.
“It was not a conversation to talk about very substantial things, but overall it was very warm and pleasant.”
Trump’s Democratic opponents have accused him of cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and say his approach to the war amounts to surrender for Ukraine that will endanger all of Europe.
The prime minister of Estonia told the BBC that if Ukraine backs down from the conflict, “Russia’s appetite will only grow”.
Kristen Michal told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “The question probably is that if you start giving up, then you should be prepared to give more.
“For Russia, it’s quite understandable that if you draw a line somewhere and use the force to back it up, they will back up too, but not by politeness, that’s not the plan.”
Last month, Zelensky presented a “victory plan” to the Ukrainian parliament that included a refusal to cede Ukraine’s territories and sovereignty.
During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in a day”, but never gave further details.
A paper written by two of his former national security chiefs in May said the US should continue supplying weapons, but make the support conditional on Kyiv entering peace talks with Russia.
Ukraine should not give up its hopes of getting all of its territory back from Russian occupation, the paper said, but it should negotiate based on current front lines.
Earlier this week, Putin congratulated Trump on his election victory and said Trump’s claim that he can help end the war in Ukraine “deserves attention at least”.
Mr. Lanza also criticized the support the Biden-Harris administration and European countries have given to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“The reality on the ground is [that] the European nation-states and President Biden did not give Ukraine the ability and the arms to win this war at the very beginning and failed to lift the restrictions for Ukraine to win,” he said.
Earlier this year, the US House of Representatives approved a $61bn (£49bn) package in military aid for Ukraine to help combat Russia’s invasion.
The US has been the biggest arms supplier to Ukraine – between February 2022 and the end of June 2024, it delivered or committed weapons and equipment worth $55.5bn (£41.5bn), according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research organization.
