Why is Vladimir Putin willing to spend billions (maybe trillions) and end the lives of so many Russians and Ukrainians in his efforts to take the Donetsk region? Mark Galeotti explains the importance of the region in The Spectator, writing:

Territorial conquest was never Putin’s real objective, so much as the subjugation of Ukraine. Given that he never anticipated that he was getting himself into a major, expensive and open-ended war though, Putin may be willing to take a deal that he can still trumpet as a triumph at home. However, Ukraine may also feel it wins a victory of sorts if it is able to gain the kind of meaningful security guarantees and reconstruction assistance to become a truly sovereign, democratic and stable nation, outside Moscow’s sphere of influence.

This, after all, is where the really difficult negotiations are likely to remain. That chunk of Donetsk matters, but it is the environment in which Ukrainians will rebuild their country that will be crucial. Putin will want to leave them undefended and divided (indeed, a small part of the reason for his demand for Donetsk is precisely to force Zelensky either to doom his people to more war or take a monstrously unpopular decision in the name of peace).

Read more here.

President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. pic.twitter.com/WwYL3DsXLa

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