Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is reportedly thinking of using Crimea as a bargaining chip for Putin. But the question is, are they willing to give it up? 

Putin is currently facing serious domestic issues, and defending Crimea may no longer be his greatest problem. Some believe that a joint special sovereignty status for the peninsula might be offered, but there is little trust. A joint lease arrangement that allowed Russia to keep its Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol until at least 2042 was terminated by Putin in 2014.

Boris Johnson, a close ally of Volodymyr Zelensky, made a little-noticed intervention in which he stated that if Russian troops returned to the territories they occupied before the February 24 invasion, it would provide a foundation for resumed negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

The statement does not mention a precondition for starting talks, implying that Ukraine would have to accept that Russian troops would not be removed from Crimea.