Plans under way for peace talks between Putin, Zelensky
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Sky News AU
40 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Nobody should ‘underestimate' Melania's influence on Trump's decision-making
Former White House Press secretary Sean Spicer discusses the 'power' the First Lady has on President Trump's thinking. This comes as US President Donald Trump hand-delivered to Russian leader Vladimir Putin a private letter from his wife, Melania Trump, about the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia during their peace summit in Alaska. 'No-one should underestimate the power that she has on his decision-making,' Mr Spicer told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. 'President Trump's display of that letter should speak volumes to what he was trying to convey to Vladimir Putin.'
Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The territory at the heart of Russia's war in Ukraine
For years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been trying to change Ukraine's borders, even before Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. But one piece of land is the centre of his ambition: Ukraine's Donbas, the industrial region in eastern Ukraine that was seen by some as 'the heart of Russia' during the Soviet era. Here, the land rises to 300 metres above sea level in places, and its ridges and rivers have provided a natural defensive line for beleaguered Ukraine over the past 3½ years, allowing its army to hold back Russian troops from the rest of the country. Putin has managed to capture 88 per cent of Donbas, and now he is reportedly demanding that Ukraine hand over the remainder as his price for peace. US President Donald Trump has said both Ukraine and Russia will have to make concessions under any final peace settlement, saying there could be 'some swapping of territories to the betterment of both'. But based on the reported terms of Putin, the trade of territory would be one-sided, heavily favouring Russia, and come with other terms and conditions attached. How much of Ukraine does Russia control? Putin illegally annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014 after the downfall of Ukraine's pro-Russian former president, Victor Yanukovych, and then fomented an insurgency in the eastern Donbas region, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, that resulted in them largely coming under the control of pro-Russian separatists. In February 2022, Russian troops rolled into Donetsk and Luhansk and captured about 74 per cent of the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces as well. After failing to capture Kyiv early in the war, Russia withdrew from northern Ukraine in April 2022 to concentrate on the Donbas. Later that year, Ukraine launched a major counter-offensive, recapturing most of Kharkiv and the city of Kherson, and pushing Russian forces south of the Dnipro River. But after almost four years of fighting, the only Ukrainian region Russia has near-complete control over is Luhansk, and despite making slow progress elsewhere, it hasn't yet gained a decisive advantage. As of mid-August this year, Russia occupied nearly a fifth of Ukraine, with its offensive stretching across a front line of more than 1000 kilometres. Including Crimea, it amounts to some 114,500 square kilometres (19 per cent) of the country, according to open-source conflict maps, including some 46,570 square kilometres of the Donbas – but a large chunk of the region, in Donetsk, remains under Ukrainian control. What does Putin want in return for ending the war? Putin's reported peace terms involve Ukraine giving up the 25 per cent of Donetsk that it still holds, which amounts to some 6500 square kilometres. The battle lines in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would also be frozen and turned into a new border, with Russia keeping the territory it occupies in both. In exchange, Putin has reportedly offered to withdraw his troops from the small pockets of Sumy, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions in north-east Ukraine. The Russian leader has also demanded that the 'root causes' of the war should be tackled; essentially, that Ukraine must become a demilitarised, neutral state and that NATO stop expanding closer to Russia's borders. Why does Putin want the Donbas? The appeal of Donbas to Putin probably lies in his nostalgic desire to redraw Russia's borders and enshrine the legacy of the Soviet Union. Named after the Donets coal basin, it remains Ukraine's coal mining and steelmaking centre, though it has suffered greatly from years of conflict, and many facilities have been destroyed or badly damaged. Despite that, the Donbas still has significant reserves of coal and shale gas, as well as other desirable resources such as lithium, titanium and graphite – although it's unclear how much could be commercially extracted. The fertile farmlands of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, meanwhile, account for some 10 per cent of the wheat, barley, rapeseed and sunflower seed produced in Ukraine from 2016 to 2020, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Controlling Donetsk offers Russia a strategic advantage by providing a land corridor along the coast of the Sea of Azov to Crimea, reducing reliance on the Kerch Bridge. If Ukraine were to surrender all of Donetsk, it would lose its main fortified defensive line against Russian advances deeper into the country, according to the Washington think tank, the Institute for the Study of War. Loading And Luhansk and Donetsk may be broadly Russian-speaking, there are major questions as to what would happen to those inhabitants who did not necessarily want to become actual Russian citizens. A Ukrainian opinion poll in May 2022 suggested that 82 per cent of people in territories seized by Russia had a negative attitude to Moscow. With almost 200,000 Ukrainians living in the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk alone, thousands might need to be relocated. What about Crimea? Putin's 2014 seizure of Crimea – which had been transferred from Russia to Ukraine in 1954 – enabled him to use it as a launchpad for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The peninsula also offers access to the Black Sea, a critical corridor for transporting grain and other goods. The Kerch Bridge, which opened in 2018 to connect Crimea to the Russian mainland, is a vital logistics route for Russia to supply its frontlines. Ukrainian forces have attacked it several times to try to sever this link. After his meetings with Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the European leaders, Trump told Fox News that it would be 'impossible' for control of the Crimean Peninsula to be returned to Ukraine. The Trump administration previously floated the idea of the US recognising Russian sovereignty of Crimea as part of a peace agreement. What is Ukraine's stance on its Russian-occupied territory? Zelensky has repeatedly said that Ukraine's 1996 constitution states that the country's territory is 'indivisible and inviolable'. It also specifically defines Crimea as an autonomous republic that's an 'inseparable constituent part of Ukraine'. The May 2022 opinion poll found 82 per cent of Ukrainians did not believe Ukraine should give up any of its territory, even if it made the war last longer and threatened the country's independence, according to a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. But by early June of this year, that share had fallen to 52 per cent.
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
The territory at the heart of Russia's war in Ukraine
For years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been trying to change Ukraine's borders, even before Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. But one piece of land is the centre of his ambition: Ukraine's Donbas, the industrial region in eastern Ukraine that was seen by some as 'the heart of Russia' during the Soviet era. Here, the land rises to 300 metres above sea level in places, and its ridges and rivers have provided a natural defensive line for beleaguered Ukraine over the past 3½ years, allowing its army to hold back Russian troops from the rest of the country. Putin has managed to capture 88 per cent of Donbas, and now he is reportedly demanding that Ukraine hand over the remainder as his price for peace. US President Donald Trump has said both Ukraine and Russia will have to make concessions under any final peace settlement, saying there could be 'some swapping of territories to the betterment of both'. But based on the reported terms of Putin, the trade of territory would be one-sided, heavily favouring Russia, and come with other terms and conditions attached. How much of Ukraine does Russia control? Putin illegally annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014 after the downfall of Ukraine's pro-Russian former president, Victor Yanukovych, and then fomented an insurgency in the eastern Donbas region, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, that resulted in them largely coming under the control of pro-Russian separatists. In February 2022, Russian troops rolled into Donetsk and Luhansk and captured about 74 per cent of the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces as well. After failing to capture Kyiv early in the war, Russia withdrew from northern Ukraine in April 2022 to concentrate on the Donbas. Later that year, Ukraine launched a major counter-offensive, recapturing most of Kharkiv and the city of Kherson, and pushing Russian forces south of the Dnipro River. But after almost four years of fighting, the only Ukrainian region Russia has near-complete control over is Luhansk, and despite making slow progress elsewhere, it hasn't yet gained a decisive advantage. As of mid-August this year, Russia occupied nearly a fifth of Ukraine, with its offensive stretching across a front line of more than 1000 kilometres. Including Crimea, it amounts to some 114,500 square kilometres (19 per cent) of the country, according to open-source conflict maps, including some 46,570 square kilometres of the Donbas – but a large chunk of the region, in Donetsk, remains under Ukrainian control. What does Putin want in return for ending the war? Putin's reported peace terms involve Ukraine giving up the 25 per cent of Donetsk that it still holds, which amounts to some 6500 square kilometres. The battle lines in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would also be frozen and turned into a new border, with Russia keeping the territory it occupies in both. In exchange, Putin has reportedly offered to withdraw his troops from the small pockets of Sumy, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions in north-east Ukraine. The Russian leader has also demanded that the 'root causes' of the war should be tackled; essentially, that Ukraine must become a demilitarised, neutral state and that NATO stop expanding closer to Russia's borders. Why does Putin want the Donbas? The appeal of Donbas to Putin probably lies in his nostalgic desire to redraw Russia's borders and enshrine the legacy of the Soviet Union. Named after the Donets coal basin, it remains Ukraine's coal mining and steelmaking centre, though it has suffered greatly from years of conflict, and many facilities have been destroyed or badly damaged. Despite that, the Donbas still has significant reserves of coal and shale gas, as well as other desirable resources such as lithium, titanium and graphite – although it's unclear how much could be commercially extracted. The fertile farmlands of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, meanwhile, account for some 10 per cent of the wheat, barley, rapeseed and sunflower seed produced in Ukraine from 2016 to 2020, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Controlling Donetsk offers Russia a strategic advantage by providing a land corridor along the coast of the Sea of Azov to Crimea, reducing reliance on the Kerch Bridge. If Ukraine were to surrender all of Donetsk, it would lose its main fortified defensive line against Russian advances deeper into the country, according to the Washington think tank, the Institute for the Study of War. Loading And Luhansk and Donetsk may be broadly Russian-speaking, there are major questions as to what would happen to those inhabitants who did not necessarily want to become actual Russian citizens. A Ukrainian opinion poll in May 2022 suggested that 82 per cent of people in territories seized by Russia had a negative attitude to Moscow. With almost 200,000 Ukrainians living in the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk alone, thousands might need to be relocated. What about Crimea? Putin's 2014 seizure of Crimea – which had been transferred from Russia to Ukraine in 1954 – enabled him to use it as a launchpad for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The peninsula also offers access to the Black Sea, a critical corridor for transporting grain and other goods. The Kerch Bridge, which opened in 2018 to connect Crimea to the Russian mainland, is a vital logistics route for Russia to supply its frontlines. Ukrainian forces have attacked it several times to try to sever this link. After his meetings with Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the European leaders, Trump told Fox News that it would be 'impossible' for control of the Crimean Peninsula to be returned to Ukraine. The Trump administration previously floated the idea of the US recognising Russian sovereignty of Crimea as part of a peace agreement. What is Ukraine's stance on its Russian-occupied territory? Zelensky has repeatedly said that Ukraine's 1996 constitution states that the country's territory is 'indivisible and inviolable'. It also specifically defines Crimea as an autonomous republic that's an 'inseparable constituent part of Ukraine'. The May 2022 opinion poll found 82 per cent of Ukrainians did not believe Ukraine should give up any of its territory, even if it made the war last longer and threatened the country's independence, according to a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. But by early June of this year, that share had fallen to 52 per cent.
