Washington-brokered negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine have largely boiled down to a diamond-shaped peninsula about the size of Massachusetts.

Amid reports that a U.S. peace proposal might include recognizing Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea, President Donald Trump denied Ukraine was being pressured to accept the move — while also asserting Ukraine had given up the peninsula in 2014 "without firing a shot.

The Russian Federation demands to recognize Crimea as part of its territory in order to disrupt negotiations on ending the full-scale war, said Borys Babin, an expert from the “Reintegration of Crimea” Association in the material by RBC-Ukraine "Trump changing the game: Why Crimea suddenly came up in peace talks".

What’s emerged from the Washington-led effort to end the war in Ukraine suggests a deal that seems likely to be favorable to Russia.

U.S. officials have finalized new economic sanctions against Russia, including banking and energy measures, to intensify pressure on Moscow to embrace U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to end its war on Ukraine,

His comments come shortly after the U.S. and Ukraine signed a minerals deal, an agreement that Vance said showed the White House is making progress.

US Vice President JD Vance said the war in Ukraine is “not going to end any time soon,” just hours after Washington and Kyiv signed a key minerals agreement that has peace in Ukraine among its goals.

US Vice-President JD Vance has said the war in Ukraine is "not going to end any time soon", in an interview with Fox News. Vance said the question facing the US administration now was how it could help Russia and Ukraine "find middle ground" to end the conflict that has been raging for more than three years.