For over a decade, successive U.S. administrations, including Trump’s first, decried Russia’s armed seizure of Crimea in 2014 and said they would never recognize the land grab

Russia’s illegal seizure of Crimea from Ukraine 11 years ago was quick and bloodless. But Kyiv and most of the world never recognized Moscow’s annexation of the strategic peninsula.

Before the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, Russia seized the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, and Trump says Crimea should "stay with Russia" as part of any peace settlement. But Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he has no power to give up Crimea to the Russians. "There's nothing to talk about here," he said.