Trump ally says Ukraine focus must be peace, not territory

Bryan Lanza tells the BBC there needs to be an "honest conversation" with Kyiv and returning Crimea is not a US priority.

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Bryan Lanza, who worked on Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, told the BBC the incoming administration would ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his version of 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," he said. "Crimea is gone."

A spokesperson for Trump distanced the incoming president from the remarks, saying Mr Lanza "does not speak for him".

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Eight years later, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has occupied territory in the country's east.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxrwr078v7o

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