Where is Crimea and why does Russia want it - as Trump 'thinks' Zelensky is ready to give it up to Putin

Asked if he thought the Ukrainian president was ready to cede control of its southern peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, Trump replied: "I think so." Trump also urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal" to end the fighting, suggesting this could be achieved within two weeks.

He made the comments to reporters after returning from the Vatican, where he held a brief meeting with Zelensky before Pope Francis' funeral. Trump said that meeting had "gone well" and that Crimea had been discussed "very briefly".

Ukraine has repeatedly rejected making any territorial concessions, stressing that issues about land should only be discussed once a ceasefire is agreed. Neither Zelensky nor Russian President Vladimir Putin have publicly responded to Trump's latest comments.

Crimea lies on a peninsula stretching out from the south of Ukraine between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It is separated from Russia to the east by the narrow Kerch Strait.

Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire during the reign of Catherine The Great in 1783 and remained part of Russia until 1954, when it was transferred to Ukraine under the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Ethnic Russians make up the majority of the population, but with significant Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities.

Given autonomous republic status within Russia after the Bolshevik revolution, Crimea was occupied by Nazi Germany following Hitler's invasion of Russia in June 1941. Stalin accused the Tatars of collaborating with the German occupiers and deported them to Central Asia and Siberia in 1944. Many did not survive. Only as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 were they allowed to return.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the peninsula became part of newly independent Ukraine.The 1996 Ukrainian constitution stipulated that Crimea would have autonomous republic status, but insisted that Crimean legislation must be in keeping with that of Ukraine. Crimea has its own parliament and government with powers over agriculture, public infrastructure and tourism.

The port of Sevastopol is a major naval base and has been home to the Black Sea Fleet since 1783. Following the collapse of the USSR, the fleet was divided up between Russia and Ukraine. The presence of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol was a focus of tension between Russia and Ukraine. In 2008, Ukraine - then under the pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko - demanded that Moscow not use the Black Sea Fleet during the its war with Georgia.

Both countries had agreed to allow the Russian fleet to stay until 2017, but after the election of the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych as president in 2010, Ukraine agreed to extend the lease by 25 years beyond 2017, in return for cheaper Russian gas.

Crimea has been governed by Russia-backed Sergey Aksyonov since February 2014, after Russia illegally invaded and annexed Crimea.Minsk agreements were signed between Russia and Ukraine, with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)-monitored ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from both sides.

In 2018 Russia opened a connecting bridge —the Kerch Bridge — from the Russian mainland to Crimea. In 2022 and 2023, the strategic Kerch bridge - actually a pair of bridges - came under repeated Ukrainian attack.

It is one of the key ways Moscow can reinforce its troops in Crimea and the southern Kherson region and logistics hubs across Russian-occupied territory have been repeatedly hit using long-range weapons supplied by Ukraine's Western backers. In 2023 Ukraine's missiles struck the Chonhar bridge — linking Crimea to the mainland and the Russian supply route .

Crimea is strategically significant for military purposes and global transportation. Russia has frequently used Crimea as a launch pad for missile and drone attacks since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2024, and the Ukrainian military has also fired missiles at Crimea.