Putin's 'land swap' 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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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.

Work on the fortress began when Ukrainian forces wrenched back the four cities from Kremlin-backed proxy forces in 2014. The belt runs from Slovyansk and Kramatorsk in the north down to Druzhkivka and Kostyantynivka in the south.

Mr Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former defence minister who now chairs the Centre for Defence Strategies, a think-tank, says that there has been a massive investment in military infrastructure and fortification over the past 10 years. Slovyansk, which the Russians tried and failed to seize in 2022, and Kramatorsk are major logistics hubs for Ukrainian forces.