The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014., is the focal point of the most serious East-West conflict since the Cold War. It was widely believed that the fate of Crimea, and four provinces in which Russia has taken territory since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, would be discussed in Tuesday's talks between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

History

Catherine the Great absorbed the Crimea peninsula, which protrudes into the Black Sea in southern Ukraine, along with the majority of ethnic Ukrainian territory, into the Russian Empire during the 18th century. Sevastopol, the Russian Black Sea Naval Base was established shortly thereafter.

In the Crimean War, 1853-1856, more than a half-million people died when rival geopolitical power Russia and the Ottoman Empire fought each other, supported by Britain and France. The Crimean War reshaped Europe, and helped pave the way for World War One.

In 1921 the peninsula, populated at the time mainly by Muslim Tatars became part of the Soviet Union. At the end of World War Two, Soviet leader Josef Stalin deported the Tatars en masse for alleged Nazi collaboration.

The Crimea was part of the Soviet Union, Russia, until 1954 when Nikita Khrushchev (a Ukrainian) succeeded Stalin and handed it to Ukraine.

There were many political disputes between Moscow and Kyiv over the status of Crimea after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Russia finally captured Crimea in 2014 by force.

RUSSIAN SECURITY OF CRIMEA

After Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown by mass protests, Russia invaded Crimea.

Russia officially annexed Crimea in March 2014 after Crimea had voted to join Russia in a disputed vote. Putin said Crimea was and always will be an integral part of Russia.

The United Nations General Assembly and many other nations condemned the annexation. Both the United States of America and the European Union then imposed sanctions against Russia for its actions. The Russian Federation has only been recognised by a few countries, but the Kremlin says the issue is closed forever.

What has ZELENSKIY said about Crimea? Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, has refused to cede territory that is occupied by Russian troops and said that Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea can only be restored via diplomacy.

MILITARY SIGNIFICANCE

Sevastopol is a Russian Black Sea base that was leased by Ukraine. It gives Moscow access the Mediterranean.

Since Putin's "special military operations" in 2022, which involved the deployment of tens-of-thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24, Crimea has been used as a launchpad by Russia for drone and missile attacks against Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion of 2022, Ukrainian forces have fired missiles into Crimea.

After the full-scale invasion of 2022, Russia imposed a de facto ban on Ukraine's Black Sea port. This severely limited grain exports which were vital for Kyiv's economy before war. The result was a spike in food prices around the world and famine threats in low-income countries. In July 2022, a deal called the Black Sea Grain Initiative had been reached to allow safe passage out of certain ports. However, it collapsed later.

GEOGRAPHY

A narrow strip of land connects the mountainous peninsula to the rest Ukraine in the north. The Kerch Strait separates it from Russia to the east. The war has damaged a bridge that Russia built across the Kerch Strait.

Crimea's area is 27,000 sq km (10,050 sq miles), which is smaller than Belgium. Its capital city Simferopol occupies this space.

POPULATION

Before the war, there were around 2,000,000 people in Ukraine. Ukraine's 2001 Census showed that around 58% of the population was ethnic Russian.

ECONOMY

The Crimea's mild climate was a popular destination for Ukrainians, Russians, and tourists before the Russia-Ukraine War, particularly Yalta where the Soviets, U.S., and British victors from World War Two met to discuss the shape of Europe in 1945.

It accounted for about 3% of Ukraine’s GDP before the 2022 invasion. The main crops are wheat, corn, and sunflowers.

Iron ore is also mined in Kerch, in the eastern Crimea. Ukraine has two grain storage terminals in Crimea, one in Kerch and the other in Sevastopol.

(source: Reuters)