President Vladimir Putin has asserted that Russia aims to take complete control of Ukraine’s Donbas region by force unless Ukrainian troops withdraw, a proposition firmly rejected by Kyiv. This statement came to light in an interview published on Thursday, intensifying the ongoing conflict between the two nations.
Since the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022, when Putin deployed thousands of troops into Ukraine, fighting has persisted in the Donbas area, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. While Russia currently holds approximately 19.2% of Ukrainian territory, encompassing Crimea—which it annexed in 2014—as well as all of Luhansk and over 80% of Donetsk, Ukraine stands resolute against ceding any territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has emphasized that Moscow should not be rewarded for initiating the conflict and attempting to assert dominance over territories it has not conquered through military means.
Roughly 5,000 square kilometers (1,900 square miles) of Donetsk remains under Ukrainian control despite Russia’s ongoing advances. Russia has indicated that it wishes to formalize its control over the entirety of Donbas in ongoing discussions with the United States regarding a potential peace agreement. Putin has urged the U.S. to recognize Russia’s claims informally, reinforcing the Kremlin’s stance on the matter.
In 2022, Russia claimed the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia as part of its territory following referenda that have been widely criticized by the West and Kyiv as illegitimate. Most countries continue to regard these regions, along with Crimea, as integral parts of Ukraine.
Recently, Putin met with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, expressing a willingness to engage with some U.S. proposals concerning Ukraine, indicating that further negotiations may be in the pipeline. This development hints at a glimmer of hope for resolving tensions as both sides explore diplomatic avenues amid the ongoing conflict.
Leave a comment