Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, will stay with Russia, US President Donald Trump has said in an interview with TIME magazine.
"Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time. It's been with them long before Trump came along," Trump said during the interview published on Friday.
The comments were published shortly before Russian President Vladimir Putin began a meeting with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin.
The strong backing of Russia's position came just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kiev would never recognise Moscow's occupation of Crimea, remarks that prompted Trump to lash out at the Ukrainian leader.
Trump accused Zelenskyy on Wednesday of prolonging the "killing field" in Ukraine because of his refusal, but claimed then that "nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognise Crimea as Russian Territory."
Crimea is a strategic peninsula internationally recognised as Ukrainian territory.
US-China trade war
He also claimed that Chinese leader Xi Jinping called him, despite Beijing’s denials of any contact between the two countries over their bitter trade dispute.
The US president did not say when the call took place or specify what was discussed.
"He's called," Trump said. "And I don't think that's a sign of weakness on his behalf."
Trump suggested he will announce deals with US trading partners in the next few weeks.
"I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we're finished, by the way," he said.
"There's a number at which they will feel comfortable," Trump told the magazine, referring to China. "But you can't let them make a trillion dollars on us."
Donald Trump has upset the world order by slapping whopping taxes on imports. But his primary target is the Asian giant.
US-Iranian talks
Trump also said he is open to meeting Iran's supreme leader or president and that he thinks the two countries will strike a new deal on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
However, Trump, who in 2018 pulled the US out of a now moribund nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, repeated a threat of military action against Iran unless a new pact is swiftly reached to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
He said, "I think we're going to make a deal with Iran" following indirect US-Iranian talks last week in which the side agreed to draw up a framework for a potential deal.
A US official said the discussions yielded "very good progress".
Asked by Time whether he was open to meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an anti-Western hardliner who has the last say on all major state policies, or President Masoud Pezeshkian, Trump replied: "Sure."
Expert-level talks are set to resume on Saturday in Oman, which has acted as an intermediary between the longtime adversaries, with a third round of high-level nuclear discussions planned for the same day.
Israel, a close US ally and Iran's major Middle East foe, has described Iran's escalating uranium enrichment programme - a potential pathway to nuclear bombs - as an "existential threat". Israel and Western countries have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons but Tehran rejects the notion, insisting its enrichment activities are for peaceful purposes only.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, saying partial measures will not suffice to ensure Israel's security.
Asked in the interview if he was concerned Netanyahu might drag the United States into a war with Iran, Trump said: "No."
