President Donald Trump said in an interview published Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” the latest example of the U.S. leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege. 

Trump made the comments in a Time magazine interview conducted Tuesday. He’s been accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of prolonging the war by resisting negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

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Trump and Zelenskyy among dignitaries converging on Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis 

Heads of state and royalty will start converging on Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square, but the group of poor people who will meet his casket in a small crosstown basilica are more in keeping with Francis’ humble persona and disdain for pomp. 

Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei are among the leaders arriving Friday, the last day the Argentine pope will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica before his coffin is sealed in the evening in preparation for his funeral Saturday. 

The Vatican says 130 delegations are confirmed, including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning sovereigns. 

Trump says Russia should keep Crimea 

The president sat down with Time magazine for an interview marking 100 days in office, a milestone that he crosses next week. 

During the conversation, which was published on Friday, Trump said “Crimea will stay with Russia.” The strategic peninsula was seized by Russia in 2014, years before the full-scale invasion in 2022. 

“Everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” the president said. “It’s been with them long before Trump came along.” 

“They’ve had their submarines there for long before any period that we’re talking about, for many years. The people speak largely Russian in Crimea,” Trump said. “But this was given by Obama. This wasn’t given by Trump.” 

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