Trump strategist says priority in Ukraine is ‘realistic’ peace: ‘Crimea is gone’

A Republican operative said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that the Trump administration’s priority in Ukraine would be establishing peace and not restoring lost territory, including Crimea, though the US president-elect’s team later sought to distance him from the remarks.

Bryan Lanza, a long-time Republican strategist who was a contractor on Donald’s Trump’s 2024 campaign, told the BBC that the new administration would be asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a “realistic vision for peace”.

“And if President Zelensky comes to the table and says, well we can only have peace if we have Crimea, he shows to us that he’s not serious. Crimea is gone,” he said. “And if that is your priority of getting Crimea back and having American soldiers fight to get Crimea back, you’re on your own.”

He said the priority was “peace and to stop the killing”.

“What we’re going to say to Ukraine is, you know what you see? What do you see as a realistic vision for peace? It’s not a vision for winning, but it’s a vision for peace. And let’s start having the honest conversation,” he said.

Responding to Lanza’s comments, a spokesperson for the transition denied that Lanza spoke for Trump. Trump’s transition effort is currently vetting personnel and drafting the policies that Trump could adopt during his second term.