WASHINGTON

Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula "will stay with Russia" as part of any agreement to end the Kremlin's war on its eastern European neighbor, US President Donald Trump said in remarks published Friday.

"Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time. It's been with them long before Trump came along," Trump said during an interview with Time Magazine.

The strong backing of Russia's position came just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would never recognize Moscow's occupation of Crimea, remarks that prompted Trump to lash out at the Ukrainian leader.

Trump accused Zelenskyy on Wednesday of prolonging the “killing field" in Ukraine because of his refusal, but claimed then that "nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory."

Crimea is a strategic peninsula internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory.

Russia occupied it in 2014 when former President Barack Obama was in office, eight years before the Kremlin launched its large-scale offensive into Ukraine.

Successive US administrations, including Trump's first, refused to recognize Russian sovereignty over the territory.

"Crimea went to the Russians. It was handed to them by Barack Hussein Obama, and not by me. With that being said, will they be able to get it back? They've had their Russians. They've had their submarines there for long before any period that we're talking about, for many years," Trump said.

"This wasn't given by Trump. Would it have been taken from me like it was taken from Obama? No, it wouldn't have happened. Crimea, if I were president, it would not have been taken," he added.

Time said in its story that Trump's peace plan would see Ukraine surrender roughly 20% of its territory to Russia, though it is unclear if that is based on the president's remarks, or another source.

Addressing reporters as he prepared to depart the White House for Rome, Trump struck an upbeat tone on the peace talks, saying they are "coming along we hope," but said they are "very fragile."

"That's a big honor. If I can do it, I think, I think we're pretty close," Trump said, adding that he does not have a deadline for the talks to conclude, but said he wants them to conclude "as fast as possible."