Crimea has been a crucial sticking point in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine – but Donald Trump is aiming to resolve the issue as part of peace negotiations.
The US president has consistently said that Ukraine regaining control over Crimea, a peninsula jutting into the Black Sea, is off the cards in a potential agreement between Moscow and Kyiv to stop the war.
He reiterated that Crimea was off the table in a social media post on Monday ahead of a highly anticipated White House meeting with the Ukrainian president on 18 August.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“No getting back Obama given Crimea… and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
The disagreement centres on the status of the Crimean peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.
Mr Trump previously pressed Mr Zelensky to acknowledge Russia’s claim to Crimea as part of a US-brokered peace agreement to resolve the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
However, Mr Zelensky has remained steadfast, asserting that Ukraine will never relinquish control of the peninsula.
Russia’s ties to Crimea
Crimea’s historical ties to Russia date back to the 18th century when Catherine the Great incorporated the region into the Russian Empire, along with a significant portion of ethnic Ukrainian territory. Shortly after, Russia established its Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol, solidifying its strategic presence in the region.
The peninsula’s strategic importance has led to repeated conflicts, most notably the Crimean War of 1853-56. This devastating conflict, which claimed over half a million lives, pitted Russia against the Ottoman Empire, supported by Britain and France. The war’s repercussions reshaped the political landscape of Europe and laid the groundwork for World War I.
In 1921, the peninsula, then populated mainly by Muslim Tatars, became part of the Soviet Union. The Tatars were deported en masse by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the end of World War II for alleged collaboration with the Nazis.
Crimea became part of Russia within the Soviet Union until 1954, when it was handed to Ukraine, also then a Soviet Republic, by Stalin’s successor Nikita Khrushchev.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there were constant power struggles over its status between Moscow and Kyiv before Russia captured Crimea by force in 2014.
Russian seizure of Crimea
Russia sent forces into Crimea and seized control of the peninsula after Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted during mass protests in February 2014.
After Crimea voted in a disputed referendum to become part of Russia, Moscow formally annexed Crimea on March 18, 2014. Putin claimed that Crimea had always been and would remain a part of Russia.
The United Nations General Assembly, the United States and many other countries condemned the annexation, and the US and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia over the move.
Few countries have recognised Crimea as part of the Russian Federation but the Kremlin has said the question has been closed “forever”.
What has Mr Zelensky said about Crimea?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory occupied by Russian forces and has said Ukrainian sovereignty of Crimea must be restored through diplomacy.
Discussing a durable peace agreement with Russia, Mr Zelensky has said peace must be lasting, unlike “years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East—part of Donbas—and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack”.
He added: “Of course, Crimea should not have been given up then, just as Ukrainians did not give up Kyiv, Odesa, or Kharkiv after 2022.”
Mr Zelensky has repeatedly refused to accept any legal Russian sovereignty over Crimea.
The military significance of Crimea
Russia’s Black Sea base in Sevastopol, which was leased from Ukraine, gives Moscow access to the Mediterranean.
Russia has frequently used Crimea as a launchpad for missile and drone attacks on Ukraine since sending tens of thousands of troops into the country in February 2022. Ukrainian forces have also fired missiles at Crimea.
After its full-scale invasion, Russia enforced a de facto blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports which severely restricted grain exports that had been vital to Kyiv’s pre-war economy. This resulted in a rise in world food prices and the threat of famine in lower-income countries.
A deal known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative was reached in July 2022 to allow safe passage from certain ports but it later collapsed.
The geography of Crimea
The mountainous peninsula is attached to the rest of Ukraine by a narrow strip of land in the north. To the east, it is separated from Russia by the narrow Kerch Strait. A bridge built by Russia across the strait has been damaged during the war.
With an area of 27,000 sq km (10,000 sq miles), Crimea is slightly smaller than Belgium, with the city of Simferopol as its capital.
The pre-war population was around 2 million.
Ukraine’s 2001 census showed around 58 per cent were ethnic Russian, 24 per cent ethnic Ukrainian and 12 per cent Tatars.
Economy
Crimea’s temperate climate made it a popular tourist destination for Ukrainians and Russians before the Russia-Ukraine war, especially Yalta, where the Soviet, US and British victors of World War Two met in 1945 to discuss the future shape of Europe.
Before the 2022 invasion, it accounted for 3 per cent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product. Wheat, corn and sunflowers are the main crops.
Crimea has chemical processing plants and iron ore is mined in Kerch in eastern Crimea. Ukraine has two grain terminals in Crimea, in Kerch and in Sevastopol.
