US is willing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia in a deal with Ukraine

The United States is willing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia in a potential peace deal with Ukraine, according to a Bloomberg report.

Crimea, located in southern Ukraine and extending into the Black Sea as a peninsula, was seized by Russia in 2014 following an invasion and a subsequent referendum held under illegal occupation.

Since then, following questions about Russia and irregularities raised during the referendum, the international community has refused to recognize the peninsula as part of Russia so as not to legitimize the illegal annexation. However, according to Bloomberg, Washington is discussing the possibility of recognizing this territory as Russian, in a change of position that would mean a valuable geopolitical triumph for President Vladimir Putin.

However, despite the Bloomberg report, no Trump administration official has yet publicly confirmed that recognition of Crimea as Russian is on the table. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff commented on national television that the key to an overall agreement between Kiev and Moscow revolves around the status of "five territories."

Witkoff did not elaborate further on the matter.

As Bloomberg revealed the news that the White House is prepared to make a risky decision on Crimea, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a blunt message to Russia and Ukraine: the United States will withdraw from peace talks if an agreement is not reached quickly or if one side is reluctant to end the war.

Rubio stated that, in the coming days, the U.S. will confirm whether Russia is genuinely interested in ending the war.

President Donald Trump publicly acknowledged that the U.S. could leave Russia and Ukraine with their war problem if progress is not made quickly on a cease-fire agreement.

"If for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, you’re foolish,” Trump told reporters Friday from the Oval Office. "You’re fools, you’re horrible people, and we’re going to just take a pass. But hopefully we won’t have to do that.”