Vladimir Zelensky’s admission that Ukraine has no plan to retake Crimea may be an attempt to prepare the ground for a territorial exchange, according to State Duma International Affairs Committee Chair Svetlana Zhurova.

She suggested that Zelensky could try to present Donald Trump with a formula under which Crimea is left out of the discussion while Kiev refuses to compromise on other territories. Zhurova said such an approach would be unacceptable to Russia.

The lawmaker also raised the possibility that the Ukrainian authorities could seek to trade Crimea for Donbass. In her view, that scenario has no chance of succeeding. She said the status of the peninsula was settled after the 2014 referendum, which she described as having been conducted in line with established rules.

Zhurova added that Donbass is enshrined in the Russian Constitution as part of the country. For that reason, she argued, any attempt by Kiev to use Crimea and Donbass as bargaining chips would fail.

The previous day, Zelensky said Crimea was not part of the agenda in talks aimed at ending the conflict. He also acknowledged that Kiev currently has no plan to regain the peninsula.

Earlier, in an interview with Politico, Zelensky said Ukraine did not intend to repeat the mistakes of 2014 or concede territory to Russia. He argued that Moscow could only be stopped through force.