The United States is ready to recognize Russian control over the Ukrainian region of Crimea as part of a broader peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev, people familiar with the matter say.
The potential concession is the latest signal that US President Donald Trump wants to solidify the ceasefire agreement, and comes as he and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have suggested the administration is prepared to abandon peace mediation if progress is not made quickly.
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Russia seized Crimea in 2014 after an invasion and a subsequent referendum held under occupation, and the international community has resisted recognizing the peninsula as Russian to avoid legitimizing the illegal annexation, according to Bloomberg.
The media outlet states that such a move risks undermining international law and treaties that prohibit the seizure of land by force.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said that he will not cede territory to Moscow.
Bloomberg says the US move would be a boon for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long sought international recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Putin has so far refused to agree to Trump's proposal for a broad peace agreement.
Bloomberg's sources said that a final decision on the matter has not yet been made.
The White House and State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
A US official familiar with the negotiations, asked about the possibility of recognizing Crimea, declined to comment on the details of the talks, according to Bloomberg.
The United States presented proposals for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine to allies in Paris on Thursday, including draft conditions for ending the fighting and easing sanctions on Moscow in the event of a permanent ceasefire, Bloomberg reported earlier.
The proposal would largely freeze the front line, and most other Ukrainian territories now occupied by Russia would effectively remain under Moscow's control, the sources said.
Kiev's aspirations to join NATO would also be ruled out.
The interlocutors declined to provide other details, citing the confidential nature of the conversation.
The talks in Paris included a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and US envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as talks between Rubio, the national security adviser, and negotiators from France, Germany, the UK and Ukraine.
One of the officials said that the US plans, which need to be discussed further with Kiev, would not constitute a definitive solution and that European allies would not recognize any occupied territory as Russian.
Officials stressed that the talks would be pointless if the Kremlin did not agree to stop the fighting, and that providing security guarantees to Ukraine to ensure the deal is upheld is also an essential part of any agreement.
Rubio said on Friday that security guarantees were not an "illegitimate desire" for Ukraine, but that negotiators had not yet reached that specific level.
"Every sovereign state on Earth has the right to defend itself," he said.
Kiev has already agreed to a ceasefire and its position is that Moscow should also agree to a ceasefire before discussing other matters, said the source familiar with the matter.
In Paris, the Ukrainian delegation's task was to discuss how any ceasefire would be monitored, as well as a peacekeeping contingent, the person said.
Russia has continued to bomb Ukrainian cities after rejecting a proposed partial ceasefire that includes the Black Sea.
The Kremlin said a separate, 30-day partial ceasefire covering energy infrastructure ended on Friday.
A week ago, Russian forces fired ballistic missiles, including one equipped with cluster munitions, at the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, killing 35 people, according to Bloomberg.
Lifting sanctions while Russia continues to occupy large areas of Ukraine could prove problematic for several of Kiev's allies, the media outlet writes.
The lifting of European Union restrictions, including the unfreezing of immovable assets, requires the support of all member states.
Witkoff, who has met with Putin three times, told Fox News this week that the key to a general agreement revolves around "five territories," without providing further details.
Russia insists that its military occupation of parts of Ukraine since 2014, including the Crimean peninsula and large areas of four regions — Zaporizhia, Kherson, Luhansk and Donetsk — must be recognized by any means necessary.
Speaking to reporters in Kiev on Thursday, Zelensky attacked Vitkoff for "adopting the Russian strategy" and said Trump's envoy had no "mandate to discuss Ukrainian territories, because these territories belong to our people."
"We are not talking about territories until there is a ceasefire. We will never consider Ukrainian lands as Russian," Zelensky said.
CNN: Trump administration ready to recognize Russian control of Crimea as part of proposal to end war in Ukraine
CNN, citing well-informed officials, is also reporting that the Trump administration is ready to recognize Russian control over Crimea as part of a proposal to end the war in Ukraine, Beta news agency reports.
The proposal also includes establishing a ceasefire along the current front lines.
An unnamed official told CNN that the plan was presented to European and Ukrainian officials who met in Paris on Thursday.
The peace framework was also mentioned in a phone conversation between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Parts of that plan need to be finalized and the US plans to work with Europe and Ukraine on this next week in London, the unnamed source said.
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