The fate of Donetsk remains the primary obstacle to finalizing a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Wednesday.
“The outstanding issue is the territorial claim over Donetsk. Efforts are underway to see if both parties can reconcile their positions,” Rubio mentioned during a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting.
“This is a bridge not yet crossed. It’s still a significant challenge, but we’ve limited the issues to this central one, though it will be challenging to resolve.”
Since 2014, Ukraine’s Donbas, which includes the coal-rich Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east, has been a battleground between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists. According to open-source conflict maps, about 80 percent of the Donbas region is currently under Russian control.
Annexing Donbas has been a major goal for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who declared in December that Russia will take the area “one way or another” if Ukraine doesn’t concede it voluntarily.
Giving up Donbas was also a component of a 28-point plan from U.S. President Donald Trump’s team, criticized by Ukrainian and European leaders as being pro-Russian. A revised proposal altered some of these pro-Russian elements.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has consistently promised that Ukraine will not cede Donbas in any ceasefire agreement, warning it would provide Putin with a base for future invasions.
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