Donald Trump has said privately that he could end Russia's war in Ukraine by pressuring Ukraine to give up some territory, according to people familiar with the plan. Some foreign policy experts said Trump's idea would reward Russian President Vladimir Putin and condone the use of force to violate internationally recognized borders.
Trump has repeatedly refused to publicly explain how he would quickly end a war that has raged for more than two years and killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians. Russia has already said it wants to annex Ukrainian land beyond the Donbass region and Crimea, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he will not accept the cession of territory. Trading territory for a ceasefire would leave Ukraine in a worse position without assurances that Russia will not rearm and resume hostilities as it has in the past, said Emma Ashford, senior fellow at the Stimson Center, an impartial think tank. The Trump campaign declined to directly answer questions for this article. “All speculation about President Trump's plan comes from unnamed and uninformed sources who have no idea what is going on or what will happen," said a campaign spokeswoman.