Ukraine is prepared to exchange Russian territory that Kiev captured during last year's Kursk offensive for Ukrainian land controlled by Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on February 11.
The Ukrainian leader told Britain’s Guardian newspaper that Ukraine would offer to swap territories with Russia in any potential peace talks, adding that Europe alone would not be able to shoulder Kiev’s efforts in its conflict with Russia.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian leader told AFP that President Zelensky will meet US Vice President JD Vance on February 14 at the Munich Security Conference, as Washington pushes to end the nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian leader, security guarantees without US participation will not be real guarantees.
"There are many opinions that Europe can provide security without the Americans, and I always say no. Security without the Americans is not real security," he said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would offer to hand over to Russian President Vladimir Putin the territory that Ukraine seized in Russia's Kursk region six months ago.
"We will exchange this territory for another territory," he said, but stressed that he did not know what territories he would ask for in return.
"I don't know, we'll see. But all our territories are important, there is no priority," he said.
Russia annexed five regions of Ukraine – Crimea in 2014 and then Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia in 2022 – even though it did not have full control over them.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he would soon send special envoy Keith Kellogg - who has been tasked with drafting a proposal to end the fighting - to Ukraine.
The US president is pushing for an end to the conflict, while President Zelensky is calling on Washington to provide security guarantees within the framework of a peace deal.
Mr Zelensky said he would offer US companies lucrative reconstruction contracts to attract Mr Trump’s interest. He pointed out that Ukraine has some of the largest mineral reserves in Europe.
The Munich Security Conference comes as Russia advances in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Over the past year, Russia has captured several settlements in Donetsk.
