Trump says Donbas region should stay divided as is

Reuters. .S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday (October 19) he never asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to cede all of the Donbas region to Russia in an earlier meeting, but that it should stay divided as it is.

“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,” Trump said in response to a question from a Reuters reporter onboard Air Force One.

Trump had pushed Zelenskiy to give up swaths of territory to Russia during a tense meeting on Friday (October 17) that left the Ukrainian delegation disappointed, according to two people briefed on the discussion.

After his meeting with Zelenskiy, Trump publicly called for a ceasefire on the current frontlines, a position that the Ukrainian president then embraced in comments to reporters. A third person said Trump came up with that proposal during the meeting after Zelenskiy said he would not voluntarily cede any territory to Moscow.