Russia jubilant as Donald Trump plans to hand Crimea and eastern Ukraine to Putin

Donald Trump's administration is reportedly planning to acknowledge the Crimean peninsula, a Ukrainian region illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, as a Russian territory. Washington would also propose to freeze the Ukrainian frontline, effectively leaving large areas of eastern Ukraine in Moscow's hands, the reports.

The US proposals were reportedly presented to Ukraine in Paris last week, with US, Ukrainian and European officials set to meet in London for talks on Wednesday. US officials are also said to have discussed eventually lifting sanctions against Moscow under a future accord. The proposal would also reportedly see Russian operations in Ukraine cease at a time when Vladimir Putin's troops are making significant progress.

The reported that, according to two people familiar with the talks, the Ukrianians interpreted the proposals as the ' final offer before considering giving up on the peace talks.

The administration has signalled it is prepared to walk away from the discussions.

Donald Trump, who before entering the White House in January claimed he could end the war in a day, has grown increasingly frustrated over the slow progress of the peace talks.

Mr Trump, and other top members of his administration, have warned it is unlikely will return to its pre-2014 borders.

Ukrainian President has long expressed his wish for Crimea to be returned to .

However, he told reporters this could only be achieved through diplomacy with Kyiv not having enough forces to retake the Black Sea peninsula via military means.

Washington recognising Crimea would likely be a significant blow to Ukrainian morale, while a boost to .

A Ukrainian politician told the that the global consequences of US recognising the peninsula as Russian territory would be "much worse than Munich in 1938".

Oleksandr Merezhko's comments were a reference to the 1938 Munich Agreement when representatives of UK, France, Italy and Germany met in Munich and permitted the German annexation of an area of what was then Czechoslovakia.

It was part of efforts to appease Adolf Hitler and stop war - a year later the Second World War broke out.

Mr Merezhko, chair of 's foreign affairs committee, told the that formally recognising Crimea as Russian would be a "huge scandal", adding "the consequences of this in the eyes of the whole world".

The Trump administration has also ruled out membership for - something the Kremlin said gave Moscow satisfaction.

Ukraine is desperate for membership, with Mr Zelenksy saying in February that he would be prepared to "give up" his presidency for Ukraine to be part of the alliance.