The Crimean Peninsula, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea, has long been a fiercely disputed territory. Stuck in the middle of Ukraine and Russia, wedged between Putin and Zelensky, claims to the Crimea began centuries before the two presidents were alive.
But what makes this peninsula so valuable? Why would two countries risk a billion-dollar war over it? And why does each side believe it has a rightful claim?
Why does Russia want Crimea?
Whoever controls Crimea gains military advantage and dominance in the Black Sea.
For Russia, the port of Sevastopol is especially critical as it offers the country's most important deep-water, warm-water naval base. Its other ports on the Black Sea, Sochi and Novorossiysk, are shallow and require ships to moor offshore,
Crimea provides access into the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean, and for Russia, a permanent home for its Black Sea fleet. By giving strategic control over the Black Sea, Crimea connects to the Mediterranean via the Bosporus Strait (through Turkey) .
Before 2014, Russia leased naval facilities at Sevastopol from Ukraine under agreements signed after the USSR collapse, to give Moscow access to the Mediterranean. However, since 2014, Russia controversially annexed Crimea and has full control over the Crimean corridor.
Russia has marketed its annexation of Crimea as a rescue mission to save the Russian-speaking population of Crimea, but this narrative has been widely rejected by most of the international community as a pretext for its illegal annexation. Similar operations by Putin have taken place in Georgia, where Russian-speaking residents were encouraged to complain about discrimination suffered because of their Russian heritage.
The Kremlin has not acknowledged its attempts to erase Ukraine’s culture, history, and language, even as historians point to systematic efforts, beginning with Stalin’s era, to suppress Ukrainian identity.
During the 1932–33 famine, known as the Holodomor, millions of Ukrainians died under Stalin’s regime. Later, in 1944, Stalin forcibly deported the Crimean Tatars after falsely accusing them of collaborating with Nazi Germany. These historical events shape the current resistance to Russian control.
Putin may argue he is defending ethnic Russians, but critics say it comes at the devastating expense of Ukraine’s sovereignty and the rights of Crimean Tatars.
What is the history of Crimea?
Going back as far as 1783, the Russian Empire annexed Crimea after defeating Ottoman forces. At the time, Crimea was home to Turkic-speaking Tatars – the indigenous people of Crimea.
It was a jewel that every imperial power wanted in its crown, with France, Britain, and the Ottomans teaming up in a coalition to regain the land from the Russian Empire in the Crimean War of 1854.
After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1921, Crimea was reclaimed by Russia, became known as the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and effectively became an autonomous Soviet state.
It was stripped of its autonomy in 1944 after the Soviets regained control of the state following a brief German occupation between 1942-1944. With this, Stalin implemented the deportation of the Crimean Tatars elsewhere in the USSR.
In 1954 came the transfer of Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic by Khrushchev to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav. This treaty essentially marked the reunification of Ukraine and Russia.
When the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine became independent, Crimea became part of Ukraine. As such, Crimea lawfully belongs to Ukraine.
Then in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea. Russia has since used Crimea as its base to launch further invasions into Ukraine.
Will the US and Europe let Russia have Crimea?
Yes, President Donald Trump did write “Vladimir, STOP!” on social media, but that does not mean Trump intends to return Crimea to Ukraine. In fact, Trump has said he thinks Zelensky is ready to give up Crimea.
Two sets of proposed peace plans published by Reuters last week suggest that the US reportedly proposing that Moscow retains some captured territory, including Crimea. The documents also include a European and Ukrainian proposal of a peace treaty, that proposes discussion over the territory should be deferred until after a ceasefire is concluded.
In the eyes of Trump, if Ukraine wanted Crimea, then it should have fought for it in 2014 when it was first annexed by the Russians.
Ukraine’s Crimean Tatar community has challenged Trump, with the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people declaring that “the only legitimate way to end the Russia-Ukraine war [and] establish a guaranteed and just peace in the region, is the de-occupation of Crimea and other occupied territories of Ukraine and the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. .
Trump’s stance on Zelensky has arguably softened since the infamous Oval Office meeting, with the US president now saying that Zelensky “wants to do something good for his country”.
Whether that means Trump will barter a deal to return Crimea to Ukraine is another matter. Discussions may be moving in the right direction, but what this means for either nation remains to be seen.
