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The U.S. and other Western governments may doggedly refuse to recognize Crimea’s annexation by Russia, but one prominent American mapmaker will.

“We map de facto, in other words we map the world as it is, not as people would like it to be,” Juan José Valdés, the National Geographic’s geographer and director of editorial and research for National Geographic Maps, tells U.S. News.

“As you can only surmise, sometimes our maps are not received in a positive light by some individuals who want to see the world in a different light,” Valdés says.

The magazine’s editorial, legal and cartographic leadership met Tuesday morning to discuss how to map Crimea’s political status. The stakeholders drafted a new policy document after deciding to temporarily indicate Crimea on maps as Ukrainian territory with a shading to indicate a special status – similar to how the Gaza Strip and West Bank are shown.

The National Geographic will show the region as part of Russia after the Duma officially votes for annexation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty Tuesday to annex Crimea, and the Russian parliament is expected to ratify the move later this week.

When the parliamentary vote happens “the document will be revised to indicate that the change has officially occurred and Crimea is officially part of Russia, then we will identify Crimea with the Russian boundary tint,” Valdés says.

Despite the leading magazine’s impending recognition of Russia's expansion – which will also be reflected on stand-alone maps offered for sale – other American mapmakers will continue to show Crimea as part of Ukraine.