Volodymyr Zelensky's idea that Ukraine and Russia exchange territories that are currently under occupation could be interesting to Washington as well. But, something like that is not easy to negotiate, Dimitrije Milić, program director of the "Novi thirdi put" organization, told "Vreme"
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he would offer Kiev-controlled territory in Russia's Kursk region in exchange for occupied Ukrainian territories Russia, if there were negotiations with the Kremlin.
"We will exchange one territory for another," Zelensky said in an interview with "The Guardian," but he did not specify which Ukrainian territories he would seek and emphasized that "all territories are important and there are no priorities."
Trump is less flexible than Biden
Dimitrije Milić, program director of the "New Third Way" organization, told "Vreme" that such an idea could be interesting to Washington as well, but he pointed out that such a thing is not easy to negotiate.
He reminded that it could be seen that Zelenskiy had "very ambitious goals" during the tenure of the former President of the United States, Joseph Biden, which included the return of all territories, given that around 19 percent of Ukrainian territory has been under Russian occupation, including Crimea, since 2014.
"It is logical that now, since Donald Trump is less flexible about military support for Ukraine, Zelensky is trying to find a realistic solution." "When it comes to territorial concessions, I assume that Ukraine would never formally agree to recognize territories under Russian occupation, because that would set a negative precedent in terms of its national sovereignty, but in terms of de facto handing over to Russia, that possibility exists," Milić told Vreme.
Kursk is a trump card in Kiev's hands.
The purpose of the incursion of Ukrainian troops into Russian territory in the vicinity of Kursk was precisely to give Kiev an advantage in future negotiations with Moscow.
"Even though that territory under the control of Ukrainian forces is small both in terms of percentage and number of square kilometers, it is still a symbolic indicator that after many months Russia has not managed to recover it. When it comes to the USA, circles close to Trump could be heard discussing the de facto recognition of Russian control over the occupied Ukrainian territories. However, it is important to point out that, apart from Crimea, none of the four areas that Russia declared as its own in fake referendums is controlled by the Kremlin 100 percent," Milić emphasized.
As an example, he cited Kherson and Zaporozhye regions and pointed out that Russia does not control the capital cities in any of them, which have a very large population.
"It greatly complicates the negotiations, because Russia controls only those parts of those areas where the Russian army is, and not the territories within its full administrative borders." That is why the idea of exchanging territories could be interesting for Washington, but it is not so easy to negotiate, especially one type of gray zone, where Ukraine de facto cedes part of the territory, but does not recognize it, while on the other hand it has security guarantees that Russia will not attack Ukraine again in the future and take territories that are of interest to it," concluded Milić.
Operation in the Kursk region
Ukraine launched a surprise offensive in the Kursk region in August 2024 and still controls part of the originally conquered territory there, although its size has been reduced during Russian counterattacks.
Officials in Kiev state that the operation in the Kursk region was supposed to protect the border areas, and that the occupied territory could serve as a trump card in possible peace negotiations. The likelihood of such negotiations has increased since Trump returned to the White House.
Zelensky has repeatedly stressed that any plan to end the war in Ukraine must include strong security guarantees from allies to prevent any future Russian aggression.
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