Putin seeks full control of four eastern Ukrainian regions and views Ukraine as not an independent nation, considering Ukrainians as Russians with accents. Two regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, form the Donbas, with Russia controlling all of Luhansk and about 75 percent of Donetsk. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are roughly 70 percent under Russian control. Putin held a ceremony declaring these four regions part of the Russian Federation in addition to Crimea. Serious negotiations are unlikely until Russian forces are halted on the battlefield and are unable to advance further west.
And he wants Ukraine to be at least subjugated to Russia, because he doesn't think that Ukraine's an independent country or independent nation. Ukrainians are just Russians with accents. That's his view. I've heard him talk about it personally. I've been in the room when he talks that way. And maximally he wants to bring it all into Russia. So, tragically, I think the only way he negotiates seriously is when he's stopped on the battlefield and his armies cannot march further west.
In each of those four regions [they] are partially occupied by the Russians today. Two of the four regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, together form what's called the Donbas. Russia holds all of Luhansk and 75 percent of Donetsk. The other two regions are Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Russia has about 70 percent of the land.
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