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Putin’s ‘land swop’ is really a grab for Ukraine’s fortress belt
He wants Trump to secure for him what Russia’s army cannot.
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Debris in Kostyantynivka, a city in the Donetsk region, has been a non-starter for Ukraine’s government in its negotiations for a peace deal with Russia.
PHOTO: DAVID GUTTENFELDER/NYTIMES
The Economist
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What Russia cannot get by fighting it is demanding to be given on a plate through the pressure that US President Donald Trump can put on Ukraine and on America’s European allies. At the top of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s shopping list is the western part of Donetsk province, which is still firmly in Ukrainian hands.
But it is not just the symbolism that is important to him. The real prize is to force Ukraine to abandon its strategically critical “fortress belt”, a 50km line that comprises four cities and several towns, which stands in the way not only of Russia’s goal of gaining the whole of Donbas, but also of its ability to threaten other regions.
