President Donald Trump say “Crimea will stay with Russia,” making clear the U.S. plan to end the years-long between Russia and Ukraine will include such a concession from Ukraine.

Trump made the assertion in a Time magazine interview published Friday. 

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

The former Soviet Union gave Crimea to Ukraine in 1954, then seized the peninsula on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine in 2014.

Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "understands" why Crimea will remain with Russia. Zelensky has said returning the region will not be part of any peace agreement. 

On Wednesday, Trump criticized Zelensky for his red line stance, saying Crimea was “lost years ago” and “and is not even a point of discussion.”

On Thursday, Trump criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for airstrikes in Kyiv that left at least eight people dead. White House envoy Steve Witkoff is set to meet with Putin on Friday to continue peace talks.

Zelensky has said he would like to meet with Trump at Pope Francis's funeral on Saturday in Rome.