Trump expects Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine

“President Trump has made it very clear that he expects the Russian government to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a daily news briefing on Tuesday. “At the same time, he fully expects to and wants to get along with Russia.”

This is a U-turn from the comments Trump made last July when asked about a possibility of the US recognizing Crimea as part of Russia. “The people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were,” he said at the time.

Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014, prompting the US and EU to impose sanctions on it.