Latest news with #landswap
CBS News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Maps show Ukrainian territories claimed by Russia amid talks on possible end to war
As President Trump attempts to help negotiate an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, questions have grown about what will happen to Ukrainian territory claimed by the Kremlin and held by Russian forces. Mr. Trump has said any ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine would involve "some land swapping," though it isn't clear exactly what that means. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and controls or claims about 20% of Ukraine's land. The map below shows those areas, highlighted in red, based on recent data from two nonprofit think tanks, the Institute for the Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project. Mr. Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House Monday. During the talks in the Oval Office on Monday, a map of Ukraine was displayed that showed areas of Ukrainian territory that are currently controlled by Russia or that are contested, with the estimated percentage of Russian control listed for each region, seen below. One area that Putin is believed to want Ukraine to give up as a condition for peace is the eastern Donbas region, which has seen some of the most intense fighting of the war. It is made up of two oblasts, or provinces, called Donetsk and Luhansk. Residents of this region are largely Russian-speaking and parts of the area have been controlled by Russian-backed separatists since a Russian-supported insurgency ramped up in 2014. At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin recognized the independence of these separatist regions and was accused of using their protection as a pretext for Russia's invasion, making a televised address in which he claimed the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk had appealed to Russia for help. Despite Russian forces then invading and holding portions of eastern Ukraine, through the course of the war they have failed to capture the region completely. Zelenskyy has rejected surrendering Ukrainian territory to Russia, including in the Donbas region, as part of a ceasefire deal. And Ukraine's leader would not technically be allowed to cede any Ukrainian lands to Russia, as part of ceasefire negotiations or otherwise, because doing so could violate Ukraine's constitution, which specifically outlines the territories of Ukraine. That also means Zelenskyy can't cede the territory of Crimea, which was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014. Instead, some analysts have suggested that, to achieve a ceasefire agreement, a deal could be struck to essentially freeze the front line — which snakes roughly 620 miles from northeastern to southeastern Ukraine — without Ukraine officially giving away the land on the other side. Zelenskyy also has warned that ceding any of Ukraine's territory to Russia could benefit Russia in any future potential aggression toward Ukraine. Putin has clearly stated that he believes Ukraine is part of Russia politically, culturally and linguistically, and Ukraine fears a pause in the fighting without robust security guarantees from the U.S. or European allies would leave the door open for Putin to rebuild Russia's military capabilities and invade again. "For the Russians, Donbas is a springboard for a future new offensive," Zelenskyy told reporters ahead of Mr. Trump's meeting with Putin. "If we leave Donbas of our own accord or under pressure, we will invite a third war." Meanwhile, as talks continue, Russia has continued its strikes on Ukraine. Ahead of Mr. Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy on Monday, Russian strikes hit multiple cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Sumy, according to local Ott contributed to this report.
Wall Street Journal
19 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
BHP CEO Sanguine on Latest Setback to Giant U.S. Copper Project
BHP's BHP 1.57%increase; green up pointing triangle chief executive shrugged off the latest setback to a giant U.S. copper project after a court temporarily blocked federal officials from completing a land swap needed to develop the mine, highlighting its importance to achieving President Trump's goal of reviving America's copper industry. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Monday issued a temporary administrative injunction while it considers the merits of lawsuits seeking to stop the transfer of federal land to Resolution Copper, a joint venture of BHP and rival miner Rio Tinto. The transfer had been expected to occur on Tuesday.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Will Russia accept a ceasefire deal without a land swap?
Will Russia accept a ceasefire deal without a land swap? U.S. Political Analyst Eric Ham on what he expects from Trump hosting Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump drags Zelensky to explosive White House showdown as Putin 'land swap' pact leaves Europe reeling
President Donald Trump has dragged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into an explosive White House showdown after making a land swap pact with Vladimir Putin. Zelensky will meet with Trump in DC on Monday, just days after the US president held a summit with Putin that failed to yield a ceasefire. Trump hailed his meeting with Putin as 'great and very successful' and is now urging Ukraine to agree a deal to end the war because 'Russia is a very big power, and they're not'. He said he agreed with Putin that the best way to end the war was to go straight to a peace settlement - not via a ceasefire, as Ukraine and its European allies, until now with US support, have been demanding. Trump also signaled that he and Putin had discussed potential land swaps and security guarantees for Ukraine. 'I think those are points that we negotiated, and those are points that we largely have agreed on,' Trump told Fox News ' Sean Hannity in a post-summit interview. 'I think we're pretty close to a deal,' he said, adding: ' Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say no.' But Trump's comments have left Europeans reeling, with some political analysts branding the proposal as 'deeply disturbing' and a 'clear 1-0 for Putin'. 'Putin got his red carpet treatment with Trump, while Trump got nothing. As feared: no ceasefire, no peace,' Wolfgang Ischinger, an ex-German ambassador to the United States, posted on X. 'No real progress - a clear 1-0 for Putin - no new sanctions. For the Ukrainians: nothing. For Europe: deeply disappointing.' Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said: 'Now Trump seems to be shifting most of the responsibility to Kyiv and Europe, but reserving some role for himself.' She said, however, that Putin had apparently not succeeded as far as he had hoped in getting Trump to publicly side with him and put pressure on Kyiv. Cold War historian Sergey Radchenko wrote: 'Putin is a determined opponent, and, yes, he basically won this round because he got something for nothing. Still, Trump did not sell out Ukraine.' After Trump returned to Washington, the White House said he spoke to NATO leaders following the lengthy conversation with Zelensky. Espen Barth Eide, foreign minister of NATO member Norway, told reporters in Oslo: 'We must continue to put pressure on Russia, and even increase it.' Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said the summit had not yielded significant progress toward ending the war but 'confirmed that Putin is not seeking peace, but rather an opportunity to weaken Western unity and spread his propaganda.' Trump hailed his meeting with Putin as 'great and very successful' and is now urging Ukraine to agree a deal to end the war Trump met Putin for nearly three hours in Alaska on Friday at the first US-Russia summit since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 'It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,' Trump touted early Saturday morning in a post on his Truth social platform. The war - the deadliest in Europe for 80 years - has killed or wounded well over a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts. Trump said he would hold talks at the White House with Zelensky on Monday, adding: 'If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people's lives will be saved.' Zelensky said after a lengthy conversation with Trump following the Alaska summit that Ukraine was ready for constructive cooperation, and he supported the idea of a trilateral meeting. 'Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace,' Zelensky wrote on social media. But Putin made no mention of meeting Zelensky when speaking to reporters earlier. Russian state news agency TASS quoted Putin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov as saying the possibility of a three-way summit including Zelensky had not been discussed. Trump revealed during his interview with Hannity that the peace agreement with Putin could involve land swaps - something Zelensky has openly opposed. When asked by Hannity what he would advise Zelensky, Trump said: 'Gotta make a deal.' 'Look, Russia is a very big power, and they're not. They're great soldiers,' he added. Zelensky has repeatedly underlined the importance of security guarantees for Kyiv as part of any deal, to deter Russia from launching a new invasion at some point in the future. 'We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security,' he said after his call with Trump. Before the summit, Trump had set the goal of agreeing on a ceasefire in the war and said he would not be happy without it. Putin signaled no movement in Russia's long-held positions on the war, but said he agreed with Trump that Ukraine's security must be ' ensured '. 'We are ready to work on this. I would like to hope that the understanding we have reached will allow us to get closer to that goal and open the way to peace in Ukraine,' Putin said at a brief media appearance after the summit where neither leader took questions. He added: 'We expect that Kyiv and the European capitals will perceive all of this in a constructive manner and will not create any obstacles. That they will not attempt to disrupt the emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigue.' For Putin, the very fact of sitting down face-to-face with the US president represented a diplomatic victory. The Kremlin leader had been ostracized by Western leaders since the start of the war, and just a week earlier had been facing a threat of new sanctions from Trump. Both Russia and Ukraine carried out overnight air attacks, a daily occurrence in the three-and-a-half-year war. Russia launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile targeting Ukraine's territory, Ukraine's Air Force said on Saturday. It said its air defense units destroyed 61 of them. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said 139 clashes had taken place on the front line over the past day. Russia said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight. Trump told Fox that he would hold off on imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil after making progress with Putin. He did not mention India, another major buyer of Russian crude, which has been slapped with a total 50 percent tariff on US imports that includes a 25 percent penalty for the imports from Russia. 'Because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that now,' Trump said of Chinese tariffs. 'I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that right now.' Trump ended his remarks on Friday by telling Putin, 'I'd like to thank you very much, and we'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon.' 'Next time in Moscow,' a smiling Putin responded in English. Trump said he might 'get a little heat on that one' but that he could 'possibly see it happening.'
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Ukraine-Russia land swap, security guarantees ‘largely agreed', Trump says after Putin summit
land swap and security guarantees to end the Ukraine wa r have been 'negotiated' and 'agreed', US President Donald Trump has said following talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska. In an interview with Fox News soon after the summit on Friday , Trump said the points 'were negotiated' and 'largely agreed on', but one 'big thing' of disagreement remained. 'I think [Putin] wants to see it done,' Trump said, refusing to say what the outstanding issue was. Trump also accused his predecessor, Joe Biden, of pushing China and Russia together, countries that he said should have been 'natural enemies.' 'He did something that was unthinkable. He drove China and Russia together. That's not good,' he said. 'It's the one thing you didn't want to do because they're basically natural enemies. Russia has tremendous amounts of land. China has tremendous amounts of people, and China needs Russian land.
