Why Putin Wants All of Donetsk in Ukraine

Russia has struggled to take a fortress defensive belt that blocks further advances.

As President Trump prepares to meet Vladimir Putin on Friday, one curiosity is why the Russian has proposed a land swap in eastern Ukraine. The answer betrays Mr. Putin’s desire to resume the war even if he agrees to a temporary cease-fire.

A view of anti-drone nets installed over a road in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine August 6, 2025. (REUTERS)

Leaks to the press suggest that Mr. Putin wants Ukraine to cede all of Donetsk oblast. Notably, he wants parts of the region that Ukraine still controls. In return, the leaks say, Russia may concede some less vital areas it now controls in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Why that swap? The likely answer is that Ukraine created what essentially is a 31-mile fortress belt of heavily fortified cities, towns and defensive embattlements in Donetsk. The effort goes back to the first Russian invasion in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Russian forces have failed to break the Donetsk line despite years of effort. The Institute for the Study of War, which follows fighting in Ukraine, says it “would likely take several years” for the Russians to break through on current trend. Mr. Putin is making a bid to achieve through negotiation with Mr. Trump what he’s failed to achieve on the battlefield.

As the Friday summit nears, Russian forces have also been accelerating efforts to take the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk. Ukrainians are severely outnumbered there, and the Russians have used unjammable fiber-optic drones to interdict troops and supplies moving to the front. That makes defensive positions increasingly difficult to hold, and our sources say the Russians are on the cusp of taking the city.

Yet it has taken Russian more than 17 months to close in on Pokrovsk, which had a pre-war population of about 60,000. The Institute for the Study of War notes the Russians have lost “well over five divisions’ worth of armored vehicles and tanks” there since October 2023. They’ve also suffered as many as 14,000 to 15,000 casualties a month in the battle for Pokrovsk.

If Mr. Putin gains full control of Donetsk with a cease-fire gambit, Russia will be better positioned to roll into the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Ukraine would have to scramble to set up new defensive lines, including on terrain where they’d be more vulnerable.

All of which is reason for Mr. Trump to beware of a Russian President promising concessions that are really bids for strategic advantage. That’s also a reason to have Ukraine in the room where the negotiations happen.