"I don't think it will happen". US diplomat Carpenter on recognizing Crimea as Russian
Ambassador Michael Carpenter does not believe that the United States will recognize Crimea as Russian. The former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, U.S. Permanent Representative to the OSCE for 2021-2024 expressed this opinion in a commentary to LIGA.net on the sidelines of the 17th Kyiv Security Forum.
Asked whether the U.S. would allow the Russians to get what they want or whether this is unacceptable for peace and global stability, Carpenter said the Kremlin's goals have not changed much since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to the diplomat, Russia's goals have always been maximalist. They were to conquer and control Ukraine. Moscow seeks to essentially include Ukraine in Russia's sphere of interests, to use the theses of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev .
"In terms of whether the U.S. would tolerate it, I mean, I hope not. But this administration – at least according to media reports – has bought into a proposal that would include things like legal recognition of Crimea [as Russian], which would be a reversal of more than 100 years of U.S. foreign policy," Carpenter said, adding that the point is that open aggression should never happen again.
According to the ambassador, even talk of recognizing Crimea as Russian is a rejection of this policy.
"And this is very, very dangerous and destructive. I don't think it will happen. I don't think any agreement will be reached, but even the fact that we are discussing this today is a bad sign of where we are now in terms of diplomacy and discussions about what a settlement of the war looks like," he emphasized.
- on April 19, 2025, Bloomberg reported that the United States may recognize Crimea as Russian as part of peace talks with Ukraine. A possible concession could be the "last signal" that Trump wants to cement the ceasefire.
- On April 21, the WSJ said that Trump expects Ukraine to respond to US "ideas" on Crimea and to abandon NATO.
- On April 23, Trump criticized Zelenskiy for his statement that that Ukraine does not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea.
- On the same day, Zelenskyy mentioned the 2018 Crimean Declaration, in which the US reaffirms its refusal to recognize the Kremlin's claim to sovereignty over territory seized by force in violation of international law.