The Donbas region is pretty rich in various resources. Ukraine needs them for economic reasons. Russia wants them for expansionist reasons.
Robert Muggah is a Principal at SecDev, Co-Founder of the Igarape Institute, a Fellow at Princeton University, and the Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy.
www.cirsd.org
If the region is ceded to Russia Ukraine will be castrated economically and Russia will be armed for further expansion. Russia not only wants the mineral and energy wealth of Ukraine but the agricultural wealth as well. That means taking the whole country.
The only logical solution is for Russia to be forced out of Ukraine and return to its own border.
Putin has grandiose plans for Russia.
"Without the Ukraine Russia is just a country. With the Ukraine Russia is an empire." -Vladimir Putin
He must be stopped at his own border. Are you listening Mr. Trump?