Washington – Senator Lindsey Graham said in an interview in “Meet The Press” by NBC News that Russia and Ukraine would have to change a territory to end the war, echoing the comments of President Donald Trump’s comments on land exchanges.
“I want to be honest with you, Ukraine will not evict all the Russians, and Russia is not going to kyiv, so there will be some land exchanges at the end,” said Graham, RS.C., during Sunday’s interview.
That idea has not been a beginning for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukraine “would not give their land to the occupants.” His comments occurred after Trump said Friday that “there will be some exchange of territories to the improvement of both.”
Graham said land exchanges would only occur “after having security guarantees to Ukraine to prevent Russia from doing this again.”
“You must tell Putin what happens if he does for the third time,” said Graham, referring to Russia that annexes Crimea in 2014 in addition to the invasion of 2022 of Russia.
When asked during the interview if it was the correct movement for Trump to celebrate a summit with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska this Friday in an attempt to negotiate a high -fire agreement, Graham said he was “very good” with the meeting, then added that he expected Zelenskyy to be involved.
“You can’t finish a war without speaking. I hope Zelenskyy can be part of the process. I’ll leave it in the White House,” he said.
NBC News previously reported that the White House was considering inviting Zelenskyy to the meeting. When asked in the “state of the union” of CNN if Zelenskyy could attend, the United States ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said: “I certainly think it is possible.”
“Certainly there can be no agreement in which not everyone is involved,” Whitaker said Sunday. Referring to the idea of territorial exchange, “large pieces or sections that have not been fought or won on the battlefield are not going to be given.”
Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, said in “Face the Nation” of CBS that Zelenskyy would be willing to travel to Alaska.
“We have shown that he is ready to be anywhere to advance on the peace agenda,” Markarova said. “Then, if necessary, President Zelenskyy, of course, will be present at meetings.”
Markarova also retreated against the concept of “damping areas”, calling her an “outdated” idea. She referred to the strikers of the war as “the first line between evil and good”, saying that the question is whether that limit would be at the borders of Ukraine or in Europe.
Graham’s comments on territory are a change in its previous position. In 2023, he said in a statement that “the Ukrainians understand that wars do not end when giving territory to the aggressor.” The senator also warned at that time that if Putin did not stop in Ukraine, “he will continue to continue”, which increases the possibility that NATO could be dragged into a war.
When asked on Sunday about those comments, Graham pointed out what he thought should be done to deter Russia of invading Ukraine for the third time. He said that the United States and allies should continue Armando Ukraine, put some European forces on the field and develop “economic integration.”
If Putin invaded Ukraine again, “he would fight more than Ukraine, having some European forces in the field as travel cables,” said Graham.
He also pointed out the division of the capital of Germany after World War II to the east and western Berlin and then reunification, noting that the city “existed divided for a long time.”
In an interview recorded before Trump announced the Alaska Summit, Vice President JD Vance said that a negotiated agreement would probably have elements that none of the sides like.
“He won’t make anyone super happy,” Vance said. “Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably, at the end of the day, will be unhappy with that.
In the interview, which issued on Sunday, Vance said Trump “needs to force President Putin and President Zelenskyy, really to sit down, to discover his differences.”
“The path to peace is that a decisive leader feels and forces people to join,” said Vance.
NATO general secretary Mark Rutte said in an “This Week” interview with ABC that Ukraine must participate in movements to end the war.
“Hopefully Friday is an important step in that process,” he said. “We need Ukraine on the table. It will be territory. It will be, of course, about security guarantees, but also about the absolute need to recognize that Ukraine decides on his own future.”
Rutte said that neither the levels of Ukraine troops nor the presence of NATO “on the eastern flank in countries such as Latvia, Estonia and Finland” should be limited.
Separately, former national security advisor John Bolton, who served during Trump’s first mandate, criticized the location of the Trump-Poutin summit. “Celebrating this meeting on American soil” was “legitimizing a Paria leader of a dishonest state,” he said in the “this week” of ABC.
“Putin is allowed to obtain the first advantage of moving when putting his peace plan on the table first,” said Bolton.
