Talks of a cease-fire in Ukraine have centered on the Donbas, a valued region for both sides and where most of the fighting is taking place. Michael Schwirtz, a global intelligence correspondent, and Anatoly Kurmanaev, a foreign correspondent covering Russia, break down who the Donbas is important to and why.

As negotiations over the war carry on, President Vladimir V. Putin is pushing hard with tactics that have evolved over three and a half years.

© Finbarr O'Reilly for The New York Times

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had a remarkably different White House visit on Monday than the ambush he walked into six months ago. Michael Schwirtz, the global intelligence correspondent for The New York Times, explains how President Zelensky courted President Trump and managed to put the ball back in Vladimir V. Putin’s court.

In Alaska, the Russian leader proposed that Ukraine hand over the remainder of the Donbas region to Moscow to stop the fighting.

© John Macdougall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

© Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times