Russia holds some of the most resource-rich Ukrainian regions in land swap sessions

president Donald Trump Recently, the call for a territorial exchange between Russia and Ukraine is updated, a geopolitical action that, if pursued, can grant Moscow control over some of Ukraine’s most strategic and resource-rich regions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Any control that would allow Russia to retain its occupied territories in war states was firmly rejected.

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Russia Currently accounting for one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, mainly located in the eastern and southeastern regions, including Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

During the three and a half years of war in the Kremlin, these areas were partially or fully controlled in every way.

Russia also holds Crimea. Ukraine It annexed the Southern Peninsula in 2014. Crimea’s seizure triggered a wave of international sanctions and led to Russia’s deportation by the eight-man group.

“Russia’s current land occupied by the southern and eastern Ukraine is rich in various natural resources,” said David Salvo, managing director of the alliance that received the Democratic Republic of Germany’s Marshall Foundation.

As of August 11, 2025, Russia’s territorial control over Ukraine, a map of key threat projects from the Institute of War and AEI. (Key Threat Projects for War Institute and AEI)

“If Russia retains this land, they will steal a large number of key minerals and other major economic assets. This includes important commodities on the global market, such as lithium, coal and natural gas,” Salvo added, adding that he served as deputy minister of the European, European, European, European, European, European, and European-Cannabis Agency and international security issues.

This strategic importance was highlighted by a warning from a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization, War Institute, which warned Russia Rare earth deposits in occupied Ukraine can be used and sold to China.

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“Russia’s access to minerals in occupied Ukraine may enhance the capacity of the People’s Republic of China to enter Ukrainian minerals,” the War Institute wrote in a statement to Fox News.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, Russian President Vladimir Putin held an official welcome ceremony in Beijing on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin swimming pool photos via AP)

“The U.S.-Ukrainian mineral transaction signed in April 2025 is only valid if U.S. and Ukrainian companies have access to these resources,” the War Institute’s statement continued, which is a challenge given that the Russian army currently holds territory containing large deposits.

Salvo says Russia’s The occupation of Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea not only restricted Ukraine’s maritime exports, but also granted Moscow control of valuable offshore gas reserves.

As of August 11, 2025, Russia’s territorial control and several key raw materials in Ukraine show maps of key threat projects for the Institute of War and AEI. (Key Threat Projects for War Institute and AEI)

Salvo also estimates UkraineIt has been known in history European Breadboards will lose billions of dollars in the value of grain exports.

“Ukraine’s economy will survive, but there is no doubt that it will be lost in hundreds of billions of dollars,” Salvo said.

forward Russia’s According to a 2024 European Parliament report, a full invasion, agriculture is Ukraine’s third largest economic sector, accounting for nearly 11% of GDP and employs about 2.5 million people.

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According to the latest review from the Kiev Economics School, the losses and losses of the Ukrainian agricultural industry are about US$80 billion.

The group also predicts that the country’s economy will drop by 45%, while destroying grain exports, and the ongoing damage to its agricultural sector threatens millions of hunger around the world.