Donald Trump. Photo: Charly Triballeau/AP
Donald Trump’s transition team said on Saturday that Republican strategist Brian Lanza’s opinion on a possible US peace plan for Ukraine does not reflect the official position of the president-elect. This was reported by ABC.
Brian Lanza, a longtime Republican strategist and former contractor for the Trump campaign, said in an interview with the BBC earlier that the Trump administration would demand a “realistic vision of peace” from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Lanza stressed that the new US administration’s priority will be to establish peace, not to return the occupied territories, including Crimea. “If President Zelensky insists on returning Crimea as a condition for peace, it will show that he is not serious. Crimea is lost,” Lanza said, adding that the United States will not participate in a military struggle to return Crimea.
Lanza’s statements were promptly responded to by Trump’s transition team, which denied that he was expressing an official position. “Bryan Lanza was just a contractor for the campaign,” said a team spokesperson, stressing that Lanza did not represent the position of President-elect Trump.
Currently, Trump’s transition team is busy selecting personnel and shaping the political course for the upcoming second term. “He does not work for President Trump and does not speak on his behalf,” the team spokesman said.
During the election campaign, Donald Trump promised to find a solution to end the war “in one day”, but did not explain how he planned to achieve this goal.
Last week, after the election, Trump had a phone call with Zelensky, which, according to media reports, also included billionaire Elon Musk, known for his support of Trump.
