Ukraine plans to exchange part of Kursk region for part of its territory – Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine plans to exchange the territory of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation under its control for part of its territory in case of negotiations. It is not yet known what part of the occupied land Kyiv will ask for in return, but according to the head of state, there is no priority.

Zelenskyy made this statement in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, which was published on February 11. In particular, he said that if US President Donald Trump manages to bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table, he plans to offer Russia a direct exchange of territories.

In this case, Kyiv would give up the land that Ukrainian defenders have been holding in Russia's Kursk region since the start of a surprise offensive there in August 2024.

"We will exchange one territory for another. I don't know, we'll see," he said, adding that he did not know what part of the Russian-occupied land Ukraine would ask for in return.

At the same time, the head of state said that "all our territories are important, there is no priority."

In addition, Zelenskyy criticized the initial reluctance of the previous US administration to supply Ukraine with weapons.

According to the Ukrainian leader, "this lack of confidence gave Russia confidence," but Ukraine is grateful for all the subsequent assistance.

A full assessment, Zelenskyy said, will be available only later.

"History shows that there are many things that you just don't know about, what happened behind the scenes, what negotiations took place... Today it is difficult to characterize all this because we don't know everything. Later we will know, we will know everything," the President of Ukraine said.

As a reminder, on February 9, Zelenskyy expressed confidence in an interview with ITV News that Ukraine would return all its territories when Russia is weakened. In his opinion, all settlements of the Ukrainian state will become free and this will be achieved through diplomacy.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, ISW recently reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had advanced southeast of Sudzha in Kursk region. Forbes reported that the Ukrainian troops took advantage of the operational pause of the Russian and DPRK armies and advanced almost 5 kilometers.

On February 11, the Ukrainian Airborne Forces Command said that Ukrainian soldiers had recently launched a new counteroffensive in Kursk region. As a result of the rapid and unexpected maneuver, the Russians managed to occupy new frontiers and significantly improve the tactical situation.

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