Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday said he hoped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be part of the process aimed at finding a peace deal with Russia, though added that the two countries will need to swap land.
President Donald Trump will host Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for high-stakes peace talks, it was reported Friday.
Zelenskyy on Saturday rejected the idea that his country would give up land to end the war after Trump suggested a peace deal could include "some swapping of territories." Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian president dismissed the planned Trump-Putin summit, warning that any negotiations to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War II must include Kyiv.
"I do hope that Zelenskyy can be part of the process," Graham told NBC's "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker. "I'll leave that up to the White House."
Welker asked Graham whether Ukraine "should sign a deal that includes giving up any part of their territory?"
"I want to be honest with you. Ukraine's not going to evict every Russian, and Russia's not going to Kyiv," he said. "So, there will be some land swaps at the end. But what would a good deal look like? Make sure that 2022 doesn't happen again. On [former President Joe] Biden's watch and [former President Barack] Obama's watch, Russia invades. The goal for me, and I think President Trump, is to end it forever."
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, then began an unprovoked attack on Ukraine in February 2022. Besides insisting the war never would have started had he been in the White House, Trump has said he wants to stop the killing.
"I think everybody knows that how this war ends can be a good thing or a bad thing," Graham told Welker. "If it ends in a way that looks like that Putin's overly rewarded, there goes Taiwan [to the Chinese].
"You can't end a war without talking."
He added that he has "every confidence in the world that the president is going to go to meet Putin from a position of strength, that he's going to look out for Europe and Ukrainian needs to end this war honorably."
"It's time to end this war honorably," Graham added. "But how we do it will be historical. And I'm confident President Trump will get a good deal for all."
Graham said the U.S. needs to help assure that Putin will not seek to invade Ukraine for a third time.
"Militarily, we need to keep Ukraine strong, keep flowing them strong and modern weapons, and security guarantees with European forces on the ground as trip wires to prevent a third invasion," the senator said.
"We want to end this with a sovereign, independent, self-governing Ukraine, and a situation where Putin cannot do this the third time without being crushed."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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