Graham proposes Russia-Ukraine territory swap in ceasefire deal
US Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican Party), co-author and initiator of the bill on strengthening sanctions against Russia and buyers of its minerals, changed his previously expressed position and stated that Ukraine and Russia would have to exchange some territories in order to stop the war.
"I want to be honest with you, Ukraine is not going to evict every Russian, and Russia is not going to Kyiv, so there will be some land swaps at the end," Graham said in an interview with the program Meet the Press on NBC News on Sunday.
At the same time, he stated that the land exchange should supposedly take place only "after security guarantees are received for Ukraine to prevent Russia from repeating this." "We need to tell Putin what will happen if he does this a third time," Graham said, referring to the annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Asked whether Trump was right to schedule a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska next Friday to try to broker a ceasefire, Graham said he was “absolutely not against” the meeting, later adding that he hoped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be able to attend. “You can’t end a war without talking. I hope Zelenskyy can be part of the process. I’ll leave that up to the White House,” he said.
NBC News previously reported that the White House was considering inviting the Ukrainian president to the meeting. Asked on CNN’s State of the Union whether Zelenskyy could attend, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said, "I certainly think it’s possible…. There can’t be a deal that everyone involved in it can’t agree to," Whitaker said Sunday.
Regarding the idea of exchanging territories, he said that "there will be no large pieces or areas that were not won on the battlefield that will be given away." The channel recalls that in his statements on the "exchange of territories" Graham retreated from his previous position: in 2023 he stated that "Ukrainian citizens understand that wars do not end with the surrender of territory to the aggressor."
The senator also warned at the time that if Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, "he will continue," which increases the likelihood that NATO could be drawn into the war. Asked on Sunday about these comments, Graham indicated what, in his opinion, should be done to deter Russia from a third invasion of Ukraine. He said that the United States and allies should continue to arm Ukraine, deploy some European forces on the ground, and increase "economic integration."
