Ukraine’s Zelenskyy ready to give Kursk to Russia’s Vladimir Putin—But there’s a catch

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to swap land with Russia's Vladimir Putin, but on one condition – if US President Donald Trump brings both countries to the negotiating table.

This comes after Russia freed at least one American prisoner in what Donald Trump described as a goodwill gesture towards ending the longstanding Russia-Ukraine war.

Zelenskyy has, in the past, refused to cede any territory after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In an interview with The Guardian published on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said Kyiv “will swap one territory for another” ahead of Friday's meeting with US Vice President JD Vance – a vocal critic of US military support to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy told the publication that he was ready to trade land in Russia's Kursk region -- which Ukraine seized in a surprise offensive last year.

When asked which Russian-occupied areas Ukraine would demand in return, Zelenskyy said, “We will see”.

“I don't know, we will see. But all our territories are important. There is no priority,” he said.

‘Without America…’

In the interview with The Guardian, Zelenskyy also acknowledged that Ukraine would not be able to enjoy security guarantees just with European partners. “Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees.”

Ukraine fears that any agreement that is bereft of hard military commitments, including NATO membership or the deployment of peacekeeping troops, would give Russia the time to regroup and mount an attack again on the neighbouring country.

‘Those who save Ukraine’

Zelenskyy also said he would offer US companies lucrative reconstruction deals in an attempt to woo Trump.

“Those who are helping us to save Ukraine will renovate it, with their businesses together with Ukrainian businesses. All these things we are ready to speak about in detail,” he told The Guardian.

Trump took office vowing to end the war in Ukraine, possibly by leveraging billions of dollars in US assistance sent under former president Joe Biden, to force Kyiv into territorial concessions.

In the first known visit by a member of the Trump administration to Russia since he returned to the White House last month, envoy Steve Witkoff secured the release of Marc Fogel, an American jailed since 2021 on drug charges.

Russia calls it ‘nonsense’

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's powerful Security Council, dismissed Kyiv's proposal to trade pockets of Russian territory it holds in exchange for Moscow-controlled parts of Ukraine on Wednesday as "nonsense."

Medvedev, who served as Russia's president from 2008-2012, said Russia had shown that it can achieve peace through strength.

Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry on Tuesday said its troops had captured the small village of Yasenove in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

And a Russian missile strike on Kyiv killed at least one person on Wednesday, the city's mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

(With AFP inputs)