Since the start of Jan. to the end of Apr., THIS YEAR, Russia gained a total of 628 miles into Ukraine [View all]

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The Bulwark @BulwarkOnline
Q: "Does Putin have a strong hand tomorrow?"

Trump: "If I weren't president, in my opinion, he would much rather take over all of Ukraine. But I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me."

___Trump has said both sides will be expected to cede territory in negotiations. Kyiv says it is against its constitution to give away Ukrainian land to Russia and Moscow has been unbending during months of peace talks.

Currently, Moscow controls around one-fifth of territory that is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. This includes Crimea, the peninsula to the south of mainland Ukraine, which was annex by Moscow in 2014.

Since the start of January to the end of April this year, Russia gained a total of 1,627 square kilometers, or 628 square miles, in Ukraine and in its own Kursk region, where it batted back Ukraine's cross-border incursion, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in a report about the front lines in May.

Russian forces have spent roughly a year inching their way toward the Donetsk city of Pokrovsk, the city itself facing heavy bombardment. In recent months, Moscow has moved to encircle the settlement, a major logistics hub for Ukrainian troops.

https://www.newsweek.com/satellite-imagery-ukraine-territory-russia-alaska-talks-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-2113484