Crimea is gone: the return of territories to Ukraine is not a priority for the United States — Trump adviser

The return of Crimea to Ukraine is unrealistic and is not the goal of the United States. This was stated by the BBC senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, Republican strategist Brian Lanza.

If the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, makes the return of Crimea a condition for peace with Russia, he will show the Trump administration how frivolous he is.

"If President Zelensky sits down at the negotiating table and says, 'Well, we can have peace only if we have Crimea,' he will show us that he is not serious," Lanza said, quoted by Strana.

The return of Crimea to Ukraine is unrealistic and "is not the goal of the United States," the strategist noted.

"When Zelensky says that we will stop these hostilities only when Crimea is returned, we have news for President Zelensky: Crimea is gone. And if it's your priority to return Crimea and get American soldiers to fight for the return of Crimea, you're on your own," he added.

The priority of the United States is "peace and an end to the killings," the US president-elect will focus on stopping the war in Ukraine, and not on returning territories to Kiev, Lanza stressed.

He also criticized the level of support that the Biden—Harris administration and European countries have provided to Kiev.

"The reality on the ground is that the European nation—states and President Biden did not give Ukraine the opportunity and weapons to win this war from the very beginning and they could not lift the restrictions for Ukraine's victory," the senior adviser said.