Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to offer Russia a direct swap of territory to end the three-year war if US President Donald Trump succeeds in bringing the two countries to the negotiating table, on Tuesday, the 11th of February, reports Politico.
“We will exchange one territory for another,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with the Guardian published on Tuesday, noting that Kyiv would give back part of the Kursk region it has controlled since the August surprise invasion.
As to which Russian-occupied territories Ukraine would claim in return, the Ukrainian leader refused to name:
“I don’t know, we will see. But all our territories are important, none is a priority.”
Trump has repeatedly said he plans to end Russia’s war against Ukraine soon and claims that progress has already been made in his talks with President Vladimir Putin. Trump says the Russian leader “wants people to stop dying in war”, but the US presidential team recognises that both sides will have to give up something to end the conflict.
Meanwhile, Russia has recently carried out several massive drone strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, continues to advance in the Donetsk region in the east of the country and does not appear to be open for business.
“In the Kursk region, neo-Nazis are operating… [controlling] an area of about two metres and to a depth of one and a half metres,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a Telegram post on Tuesday. “Zelenskyy makes similar statements to hide the true catastrophic scale of the armed forces in this direction.”
Russian forces occupied another 3 600 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory last year and now control around 20% of the country. By contrast, Kyiv’s forces control around 500 square kilometres in Russia’s Kursk region.
With the Ukrainian armed forces significantly outnumbered by the Russian forces on the front lines, Zelenskyy told Reuters in an interview last week that a recruitment drive would soon be launched and on Tuesday the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence announced it,
inviting 18 to 24 year olds to join the army for a year, promising one million hryvnia (24 000 US dollars, 23 000 euros) and other bonuses in return.
“Change your life in one year”, young people are told in a video posted on social networks, with soldiers taking up positions and firing weapons in the background. “If you are between 18 and 24 years old, you are a citizen of Ukraine and you are ready for change.”
In addition to the promised reward, large bonuses were offered, as well as subsidised mortgages and rents. A 12-month exemption from mobilisation was also offered on signing the contract.
In a statement posted on social media, volunteers were promised “professional military training to NATO standards and social benefits you won’t find in a civilian job”.
Last month, Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian army had 980 000 manpower. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the size of the Russian army to be increased to 1.5 million active soldiers.
Last year, the Ukrainian parliament lowered the age of conscription from 27 to 25 and introduced penalties for evasion. The change is unpopular as many soldiers have been on the front line without leave since 2022.
Zelenskyy and officials have resisted US pressure to lower the conscription age further.