Between geopolitical ambitions and Soviet history, Moscow persists in wanting to seize the Ukrainian eastern.
A coveted region
Donbass. A name that has become synonymous with war and geopolitical tensions for over ten years. This region in eastern Ukraine, rich in mining resources, is still today at the center of Kremlin claims. Vladimir Putin considers her as Historically Russian land. A major point of friction between Moscow and kyiv and a considerable obstacle to any possible peace.
After a summit without real outcome in Alaska, The American president surprised by giving up demanding A prior cease-fire. Advocating a ” peace agreement“, Trump is even open to a Russian proposal aimed at to freeze the front in two regions and to give in to Moscow the control of Donetsk and Louganskboth ” oblasters Who form the Donbass. According to a source cited by AFP, Vladimir Putin “Ask in fact that Ukraine leaves Donbass“.
This requirement is part of a will to annex a territory that the Kremlin considers to be Russian and not Ukrainian. Since 2014, Moscow has not stopped to arm, finance and support the pro-Russian separatists of Donbasswhile claiming to protect Russian speakers in the region ” victims of a genocide According to the rhetoric of the Kremlin.
A strategic and historically Russian territory?
If Russia insists so much on the Donbass, it is in particular due to its economic value. This region represents a huge coal reserve, crucial for Ukraine. Its thermal power plants provided before the war near 40% electricity in the country. For Moscow, recovering this area would both allow To weaken kyiv And to strengthen its own energy potential.
HistoricallyDonbass is a long -standing russified territory. Initially composed of a mixed population, both Ukrainian and Russian, it is attached to Russia in the 18th century, later became an industrial pillar of the Empire, then of the USSR. Coal mines, steelworks and factories bloom greatly.
In the 1930s, Holodomorthe great famine organized by Stalin, is wreaking havoc there. In the 1950s, the Ukrainian language was even prohibited in higher education. Result, in the late 1980s, near half of the population identifies as Russian. However, it is with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, that the region became officially an integral part of independent Ukraine.
The objective of the Kremlin
The intention is clear for Moscow. It’s necessary ” release »Russian -speaking populations and attach these territories to Russia. Already in 2014, two self -proclaimed “popular republics” were emerging in Donetsk and Lougansk, without international recognition. In 2022, Russia recognized its independence, before launching a total invasion of Ukraine.
Today, Russia controls approximately 20% of the Ukrainian territoryof which a large part of the Donbass. Moscow does not retreat. Putin would have promised Trump not to to extend his ambitions more beyond the Donbassin exchange for a Agreement ratifying the transfer of these territories. A proposal that Trump plans to present to Zelensky. In return kyiv would receive the United States a safety guarantee Inspired by article 5 of NATO, but outside the framework of the Atlantic Alliance.
