PUBLISHED on August 11, 2025, 3:50 PM EDT – Lindsey Graham Reveals Key Condition for Peace Deal – And Kyiv Could Be Forced to Accept It – Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that a land swap is expected to become a key condition of a peace deal expected to be discussed during an upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.
“I want to be honest with you: Ukraine is not going to evict every Russian, and Russia is not going to Kyiv, so there will be some land swaps at the end,” Graham said on Sunday.
The long-time Trump ally’s comments came after President Trump hinted to reporters last week that a land swap was on the table – a suggestion he reiterated on Monday during a White House press conference.
The president told reporters that an upcoming in-person discussion with the Russian president, expected to take place on Friday in Alaska, would be a “feel-out meeting” to determine if Putin was ready to make a deal. The president also claimed he would know within “two minutes” if the Russian leader was willing to take steps towards peace.
“So I’m going to speak to Vladimir Putin, and I’m going to be telling him, you’ve got to end this war,” Trump said. “You’ve got to end it.”
Ukraine Doesn’t Agree – For Now
On Saturday, a day before Lindsey’s comments and following President Trump’s first suggestion that a land swap could be on the cards, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that the proposed deal is untenable.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will “not give their land to occupiers.”
The Ukrainian president’s latest comments are consistent with promises he made to the Ukrainian people during the early days of the conflict.
During remarks made in a video address from Kyiv’s Independence Square on August 24, 2022, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was fighting for its “destiny,” that his forces would fight for all Ukrainian land “until the end,” and that the “whole of Ukraine” would be reclaimed – including the contested Donbas region, as well as the Crimean Peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014.
“And we will put our hands up only once – when we will celebrate our victory. The whole of Ukraine,” he said. “Because we do not trade our lands and our people. For us, Ukraine is all of Ukraine. All 25 regions, without any concession or compromises,” Zelenskyy said.
Showdown Coming?
Trump’s proposal cuts directly against Kyiv’s stated war aims, and could set the stage for another political and diplomatic clash between his administration and Kyiv. For Zelenskyy, agreeing to such a deal would mark a massive departure from a position he has held since the first days of the invasion.
While the full details of the deal have not yet been confirmed, it’s not hard to see why Kyiv disapproves so far.
He Might Not Be Ukraine’s Churchill?
Zelenskyy is presumably aware that changing his mind now could impact his legacy as a leader, particularly among Ukrainians who support his stated goal of reclaiming all Ukrainian land. Rather than being remembered as a Churchill-like underdog who defeated a powerful aggressor, he risks being cast as the leader who fell short of victory and agreed to concessions that contradict his own wartime pledges.
What Happens Next?
But Kyiv’s approval isn’t out of the question. Trump has several tools available to him to secure an agreement from Kyiv, primarily leverage over both Ukraine and his European allies. Trump may again choose to delay or cancel military aid to Ukraine.
Still, he might also use his newfound support from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to urge European leaders to get on board with the deal. After Rutte’s public praise for the president earlier this year, when NATO member states largely agreed to raise defense spending targets to 5% GDP, on the unwritten understanding that Trump will maintain U.S. support for the alliance, European leaders may back Trump’s proposal publicly.
Backing Trump’s proposal, however, would not simply be a matter of appeasing the U.S. president; for many European governments, it would also represent an opportunity to ease the financial and military burden of supporting Ukraine while they rush to rebuild, modernize, and bolster their defenses amid escalating global tensions.
And Trump is already signalling that this might be the strategy. On Monday, the president responded to Zelenskyy’s dismissal of his proposal, noting that he “very, very severely” disagrees with him.
“I get along with Zelensky, but, you know, I disagree with what he’s done, very, very severely disagree. This is a war that should have never happened,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The question is: will Zelenskyy put peace before his own legacy or pride?
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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