Kyiv fears that Trump may agree to transfer the Odessa port to Russia, – The New York Times

U.S. President Donald Trump May Support Russian Leader Vladimir Putin on Territorial Issues and Possibly Include the Critical Port of Odesa in Settlement Talks

The New York Times (NYT) reports this, citing aides to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to NYT, the Trump administration has already indicated that it expects Ukraine to acknowledge territorial losses, including Crimea. However, the U.S. president himself has not disclosed details of discussions on this matter or his further plans for resolving the situation.

Odesa is a city in the northern Black Sea region, located in southwestern Ukraine, and serves as the administrative center of Odesa Oblast. As of 2021, its population was just over 1 million people.

The official founding date of Odesa is considered to be September 2, 1794, when Russian Empress Catherine II signed a decree to expand the Khadzhibey Harbor (the city was known as Khadzhibey until it was renamed in 1795) and modernize the port.

To achieve a ceasefire, Putin has insisted on the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR), as well as from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. He also demands the recognition of these four regions and Crimea as part of Russia, Ukraine’s neutral and non-nuclear status, and the lifting of international sanctions.

Putin has called Odesa a “Russian city” and suggested that it could become either a “sticking point” or a “symbol of conflict resolution.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that Ukraine will have to make territorial concessions as part of any peace agreement. Zelensky has called Putin’s conditions an ultimatum, repeatedly rejected recognition of the lost regions as Russian, and suggested that they could be reclaimed through diplomatic means after the end of the conflict.