A decade ago, Donetsk was the metropolis of Ukraine's east
By 2013, one in 10 Ukrainians called it home, part of a pre-war population of 4.43 million.
It was an agricultural and industrial heartland, rich in produce and with much of the country's coal, steel and iron.
It hosted prestigious music festivals, hockey championships and other international sports tournaments, as well as concerts by Beyoncé and Rihanna.
One of Ukraine's most popular football clubs, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, drew crowds of thousands.
But Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk — collectively known as the Donbas — have long been sought after by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It is where the majority of the heavy fighting has taken place since February 2022, reducing homes, businesses, and venues to rubble, and forcing millions to flee.
Now the Russian president is reportedly demanding Kyiv hand over the remaining quarter of the more than 26,000 square kilometre region in order to secure peace in Ukraine.
Putin's enduring fight for Donbas
Russia has been trying to seize the entire Donbas region for about a decade.
Armed conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in early 2014 following Russia's annexation of Crimea.
That same year, Russian-backed separatists broke away from the Ukrainian government, declaring both Donetsk and Luhansk as independent "people's republics".
Mr Putin made a national address to recognise their independence from Ukraine.
The US, UK and European Union called the move a "breach of international law".
Russia expert Matthew Sussex, from the Australian National University's Centre for European Studies, said Mr Putin had his sights set on conquering Donbas "since the start of the conflict".
"But the slow progress of his military means that he can't occupy, or doesn't occupy, those territories," he told the ABC.
"So what he's demanding now is that the Ukrainians cede Donetsk Oblast — which is a huge amount of territory — and would force them to give up some vital fortified cities and defence lines which the Russians have been trying for three-and-a-half years to crack, and they can't."
Ukraine has been developing a "fortress belt" throughout Donetsk since the initial 2014 conflict — a 50-kilometre stretch spanning several cities.
This main defence line has halted Russian forces from advancing further west into Ukraine.
In March 2022, the initial conflict saw rapid Russian advances.
Within five weeks of the invasion, the Kremlin's forces had taken control of about 120,000 square kilometres of Ukraine and were advancing on Kyiv.
But by September, Russia's hold on Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv in the north-east, was waning, and Moscow called back their troops in retreat.
By the end of spring, Ukraine had recaptured about 50,000 square kilometres of territory back from Russia.
Russia now controls about 20 per cent of Ukraine's east.
Along with Crimea, Russian forces control approximately 88 per cent of the Donbas region, including all of Luhansk and 75 per cent of Donetsk.
Russia also controls large parts of two other regions of south-eastern Ukraine close to the Russian border, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The 'swap' proposed by Trump and Putin
After a meeting with Mr Putin in Alaska last week, US President Donald Trump said Ukraine may need to "swap" territory with Russia in order to end the war.
In exchange for the entire Donbas region and Crimea, Russia would be prepared to fix the front lines as they stand in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Mr Putin "illegally annexed" Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in September 2022, saying the four regions would be folded into Russia.
In a 37-minute speech announcing the annexation, Mr Putin made it clear he had no intention of handing over any of the regions.
"I want the Kyiv authorities and their real masters in the West to hear me so that they remember this," he said.
"People living in Luhansk and Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are becoming our citizens. Forever."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also repeatedly rejected calls to cede territory.
"We will not leave Donbas," Mr Zelenskyy said.
"We cannot do this.
"Donbas for the Russians is a springboard for a new future offensive."
Handing it over would mean shifting the front line of war deep into Ukraine, as well as giving up the decades' worth of defence build-up which has made it so difficult to capture.
Any concession of Ukrainian territory would also have to be approved by a referendum.
Around 78 per cent of Ukrainians are opposed to giving up territory to Russia, according to a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute (KIIS) of Sociology in June.
For those in Donetsk and Luhansk, where the population is majority Russian-speaking and the government is anti-Ukraine, there is similar opposition to the invasion.
A KIIS poll of those living in Russian-occupied territory found 82 per cent of citizens felt negative towards Russia.
Territory gains Putin's 'ultimate goal'
After talks with the Russian president, Mr Trump hosted Mr Zelenskyy and a group of European leaders in Washington for multilateral talks.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a long conversation with Mr Trump about land, but territorial issues would be decided between Ukraine and Russia.
The Russian and Ukrainian presidents are tipped to meet within two weeks, according to world leaders.
As negotiations go on, Russia has continued to launch drone attacks across Ukraine in an attempt to gain ground.
Russia's main objective, according to Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War, is to capture the remainder of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Russian forces have also attempted to push westward into Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk.
Professor Sussex said that Russia had recently launched a "a massive push" to grab more territory.
"But the Ukrainians — to their credit — have managed to cut that off and are now pushing the Russians back again," he said.
"So it is still ultimately — even though there is very, very fierce fighting — in terms of where the battle lines start and stop, pretty much a stalemate."
Some world leaders have this week suggested Mr Putin would not have entered peace talks if he thought he was capable of conquering eastern Ukraine by force.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he believed the Russian president was entering negotiations only to extract more territory from Ukraine.
"I am not convinced that President Putin also wants peace," Mr Macron said.
"His ultimate goal is to gain as much territory as he can, to weaken Ukraine."
