Kremlin rejects territorial exchange in potential Ukraine peace talks
Russia has ruled out any discussion of exchanging territories in potential negotiations with Ukraine, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 12, according to the state news agency TASS.
Peskov's statement follows President Volodymyr Zelensky's remarks in an interview with The Guardian, where he suggested Ukraine could cede the territory it controls in Russia's Kursk Oblast in exchange for Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
"This is impossible. Russia has never discussed and will never discuss the topic of exchanging its territory," Peskov responded.
Kyiv has previously signaled that its cross-border incursion in Kursk Oblast, launched in August 2024, could be used in potential peace talks with Russia. Zelensky now confirmed that the offer could be on the table if U.S. President Donald Trump succeeds in opening negotiations.
Peskov claimed that Russia would be able to expel Ukrainian forces from its territory. While Moscow has reclaimed some lost ground in Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian forces continue holding positions in the region and recently advanced 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles).
Zelensky did not specify what regions could be exchanged for Kursk Oblast territories.
Russia holds roughly 20% of Ukraine's land and illegally announced the annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions – the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts – in September 2022. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin named a complete Ukrainian withdrawal from these regions as a key condition for talks, which Kyiv rejected.
Talk of ending Russia's war in Ukraine has gained momentum since Trump took office on Jan. 20. His administration has set a 100-day goal to broker a resolution, with special envoy Keith Kellogg expected to visit Ukraine on Feb. 20 after the Munich Security Conference.
The Kremlin has already indicated readiness to hold talks with Trump regarding the war in Ukraine.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
