At least one fundamental problem is still unsolved when Russian and Ukrainian negotiators meet again on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for peace negotiations arranged by the Trump administration: what will happen to the Donetsk area.
Russian authorities have hinted for months that Moscow won't end hostilities unless Ukraine cedes the 2,082 square miles of the Donetsk area that Kyiv still controls.
In testimony before the Senate last Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the Donetsk region was "the one remaining item" in the peace talks that needed to be addressed, adding, "It's still a bridge we haven't crossed."

Moscow denied that a day later. Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy assistant for the Kremlin, stated that other matters, including as the security assurances provided to Ukraine by Western countries, still need to be resolved.
Even still, it is apparent that the Ukrainian-controlled slice of land in the Donetsk region, smaller than the state of Delaware, sits at the core of the discussions.
This has led to the question of why Russian President Vladimir Putin is particularly concerned about this specific region compared to other areas of Ukrainian territory that Moscow has claimed.

State propaganda and symbolism
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, Donetsk has played a crucial role in Moscow's efforts to split off and eventually conquer the industrial region of east Ukraine, which is primarily Russian-speaking and is portrayed by the Kremlin as historically Russian.
A large portion of Russia's official propaganda has focused on rescuing the residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk areas, which are generally referred to as the Donbas. The Luhansk region has already been completely taken over by Russia.
In late 2022, the Kremlin claimed that it had annexed four regions of Ukraine - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

The portions of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions that Russia does not now control appear to have been abandoned by Russian negotiators. Pro-war nationalist members of Putin's constituency might retaliate if Kyiv also retained a sizable portion of Donetsk.
There is symbolic significance to the portion of the Donetsk region that Ukraine still controls. It includes Sloviansk, where in 2014 Moscow started what it described as a pro-Russian "separatist" uprising. Pro-war nationalists may become more critical if Moscow fails to capture the city, which Russian propaganda portrays as the birthplace of the "Russian Spring," after 12 years of attempts.
Putin might be able to create a narrative of victory by capturing the remainder of Donetsk."The question of who won the war and who dictated the terms of ending the war will be answered if you can get at the negotiation table something you have not achieved by force," stated Alexander Gabuev, director of the Berlin-based Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center think tank. "There may not be a plausible way to portray this as a strategic defeat for Russia and a victory for Ukraine."
Putin knows that any choice by Kyiv to hand over the region would be highly difficult within Ukraine, where troops have been dying for that land for 12 years, Gabuev noted.

He remarked, "People have shed blood for that." “Lots of families lost their loved ones during the fighting in Donbas. Are you giving it up now? Under Ukrainian unity, it's a ticking time bomb.
In remarks on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he was willing to make concessions to put an end to the conflict without jeopardizing Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Zelenskyy declared in December that he was prepared to withdraw his forces from Kyiv's portion of the Donetsk region and demilitarize those areas. However, he stated that Russia would need to withdraw its troops from a comparable area in the Donetsk.

The "Anchorage Formula"
In an attempt to revive negotiations with the Kremlin, President Donald Trump's administration proposed a land swap involving Donetsk after his peacekeeping efforts came to a standstill last summer. Putin is now holding on to that agreement.
The president's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, brought the concept to Moscow last summer. The August summit in Anchorage, Alaska, was arranged as a result of Putin's favorable reaction.
The specifics of what Trump and Putin decided upon in that meeting have not been made public. However, since then, Russian leaders have insisted that any peace agreement follow "the spirit of Anchorage" or "the Anchorage formula," without providing further details.

Zelenskyy disagreed. He pointed out that territory concessions without a national vote were forbidden by the Ukrainian Constitution.
The issue then emerged in a different form in a 28-point plan that the U.S. negotiators developed last November with cooperation from Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's personal envoy.
According to the plan, Ukrainian military would leave the portion of the Donetsk region that they still control and establish a "neutral demilitarized buffer zone." It would be recognized internationally as Russian territory, but Russian troops wouldn’t be permitted on the area.
Putin might believe that any departure from the offer he made to Trump in Alaska would be a raw bargain.Water and fortifications
Since the defenses were built in 2014, prior to Russia's full-scale invasion, the portion of the Donetsk region that Ukraine still controls is among the most reinforced on the front.
According to some analysts, losing those defenses would make Ukraine more susceptible to any future Russian assault, putting Moscow in a strong position to launch a fresh invasion in the event that the peace deal falls through.
The capital of the Donetsk region, the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, also experienced a serious water crisis last year and is still dealing with water shortages.
The Siverskyi Donets-Donbas Canal, which provided water to the area, was destroyed at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. During his December call-in press conference, Putin was questioned about the water problems. The primary water intake, he clarified, is located in "unfortunately still controlled by the enemy" region.
The Russian leader stated that once "this territory is under the control of our armed forces," the issue may be "fundamentally resolved."