Kremlin echoes Trump on Ukraine's "different shape" after war: geography has already changed
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responding to US President Donald Trump's remark that Ukraine will have a "slightly different shape" after the war, said that geographically it is already a different country. Trilateral talks are set for Abu Dhabi.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president, has said that "from the point of view of geography" Ukraine is already a different country. He was responding to US President Donald Trump's remark that Ukraine will end up with a "slightly different shape" once the war is over. Peskov most likely meant the territories Russia has occupied during its aggression, according to Russia's TASS agency.
In an interview with the CBS programme "60 Minutes", Trump said that after the war Ukraine would probably remain an independent and free state, but with a "slightly different shape". The wording has been read as a possible hint at changes to Ukraine's borders under a peace deal.
Asked what Trump might have meant, Peskov replied: "As for the territory of Ukraine, from a geographical point of view it is already a different country. The realities on the ground are obvious, and hardly anyone can deny them."
Context of the talks
Steve Witkoff, the US president's special envoy, has announced that trilateral talks on ending the Russia-Ukraine war will be held in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, and will focus on next steps towards peace. Peskov confirmed that the Russian delegation will arrive in Abu Dhabi on 10–11 November and take part in talks in a Ukraine–US–Russia format. The delegation is still led by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to the Russian president.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that, after European leaders spoke with the Kremlin's head, there is a sense that Russia is serious about a meeting of negotiating teams in Abu Dhabi. At the Berlin security conference, he said that for Russia a "peaceful and united Europe is its enemy". In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said both sides in the talks were ready to say: "Let's make a deal."
In September, Zelensky reported that in 2026 Russia had seized 890 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory in its war of aggression, while Ukraine had liberated 800 square kilometres. Russian losses, he said, reached 270,000 people.
