As President Trump attempts to help negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, questions have grown about what will happen to Ukrainian territory claimed by the Kremlin and held by Russian forces.
Mr. Trump has said any ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine would involve “some land swapping,” though it isn’t clear exactly what that means.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and controls or claims about 20% of Ukraine’s land.
The map below shows those areas, highlighted in red, based on recent data from two nonprofit think tanks, the Institute for the Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project.
Infographic with a map of Ukraine locating territories claimed by Russia as of Aug. 17, 2025, according to data from the Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project. / Credit: Graphic by Guillermo Rivas Pacheco, Jean-Michel Cornu/AFP via Getty Images
Mr. Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House Monday.
During the talks in the Oval Office on Monday, a map of Ukraine was displayed that showed areas of Ukrainian territory that are currently controlled by Russia or that are contested, with the estimated percentage of Russian control listed for each region, seen below.
This map of Ukraine, showing the percentage of different regions under Russian control, was displayed in the Oval Office during President Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenenskyy and European leaders on Aug. 18, 2025. / Credit: BBC News
One area that Putin is believed to want Ukraine to give up as a condition for peace is the eastern Donbas region, which has seen some of the most intense fighting of the war. It is made up of two oblasts, or provinces, called Donetsk and Luhansk.
Residents of this region are largely Russian-speaking and parts of the area have been controlled by Russian-backed separatists since a Russian-supported insurgency ramped up in 2014.
At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin recognized the independence of these separatist regions and was accused of using their protection as a pretext for Russia’s invasion, making a televised address in which he claimed the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk had appealed to Russia for help.
Despite Russian forces then invading and holding portions of eastern Ukraine, through the course of the war they have failed to capture the region completely.
Four maps show Russian-controlled areas in Ukraine’s Donbas region on four days between Sept. 5, 2024 and Aug. 17, 2025, according to data from the Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project. / Credit: Graphic by Clea Peculier, Paz Pizarro/AFP via Getty Images
Zelenskyy has rejected surrendering Ukrainian territory to Russia, including in the Donbas region, as part of a ceasefire deal.
And Ukraine’s leader would not technically be allowed to cede any Ukrainian lands to Russia, as part of ceasefire negotiations or otherwise, because doing so could violate Ukraine’s constitution, which specifically outlines the territories of Ukraine.
That also means Zelenskyy can’t cede the territory of Crimea, which was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014.
Instead, some analysts have suggested that, to achieve a ceasefire agreement, a deal could be struck to essentially freeze the front line — which snakes roughly 620 miles from northeastern Ukraine to its southern coast on the Black Sea — without Ukraine officially giving away the land on the other side.
Map shows Ukrainian territory controlled by Russian forces, as of Aug. 17, 2025. / Credit: CBS News
Zelenskyy also has warned that ceding any of Ukraine’s territory to Russia could benefit Russia in any future potential aggression toward Ukraine.
Putin has clearly stated that he believes Ukraine is part of Russia politically, culturally and linguistically, and Ukraine fears a pause in the fighting without robust security guarantees from the U.S. or European allies would leave the door open for Putin to rebuild Russia’s military capabilities and invade again.
“For the Russians, Donbas is a springboard for a future new offensive,” Zelenskyy told reporters ahead of Mr. Trump’s meeting with Putin. “If we leave Donbas of our own accord or under pressure, we will invite a third war.”
Meanwhile, as talks continue, Russia has continued its strikes on Ukraine. Ahead of Mr. Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy on Monday, Russian strikes hit multiple cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Sumy, according to local media.
Trump sounds off on potential security guarantees for Ukraine
