Ukraine’s bold land swap offer to Russia as US prisoner freed

Ukraine has offered to exchange territory with Russia in a potential bid for peace, as Donald Trump aides secured the release of a US teacher jailed in Moscow.

Ukraine will offer to swap territory with Russia in any potential peace negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that Europe alone would not be able to shoulder Kyiv’s war effort.

Mr Zelenskyy will meet US Vice President JD Vance later this week at the Munich Security Conference, as Washington pushes for an end to the nearly three-year war with Russia.

Mr Vance has been a frequent critic of US support that has been vital to Ukraine’s war effort.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with Vice President JD Vance and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Picture: AFP

It came as Moscow freed an American prisoner after the first known visit by a member of Mr Trump’s administration to Russia, in a deal the White House called a positive sign for ending the Ukraine war.

The White House said Mr Trump secured the release of Marc Fogel, an American jailed since 2021 on drug charges, as part of an “exchange,” without offering further details.

Steve Witkoff, a property developer and friend of Mr Trump who serves as his Middle East envoy, held talks and was “leaving Russian airspace” with Mr Fogel, the White House said.

The US envoy in charge of hostages, Adam Boehler, later posted a picture of Mr Fogel that appeared to show him savouring a stiff drink on a jet home, his other hand clasping both his passport and a plate of food.

Real time photo of Marc@Fogel@coming home. ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ ⁦@SteveWitkoff⁩ ⁦@StateSPEHA⁩ pic.twitter.com/FIAm8fwZtL

— Adam Boehler (@aboehler) February 11, 2025

Mr Trump is keen for both sides to reach a deal, the terms of which are a source of concern in Ukraine.

“There are voices which say that Europe could offer security guarantees without the Americans, and I always say no,” Mr Zelenskyy told The Guardian newspaper.

“Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees,” he said.

He said he would offer Russian President Vladimir Putin territory that Ukraine seized in Russia’s Kursk region six months ago.

“We will swap one territory for another,” he said, adding that he did not know which territories he would ask for in return.

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

Russia says it has annexed five regions of Ukraine — Crimea in 2014 and then Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia in 2022 — though it does not have full control over them.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairing a Security Council meeting via videoconference at the Kremlin. Picture: AFP

US TREASURY SECRETARY TO VISIT REGION

The announcement on Mr Fogel came hours after Mr Trump announced a visit to Ukraine by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — another official in his cabinet on a mission unrelated to his primary job.

Mr Trump also confirmed that he would soon dispatch his special envoy Keith Kellogg, who is tasked with drawing up a proposal to halt the fighting, to Ukraine.

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

Mr Trump in a Fox News interview aired earlier this week floated that Ukraine “may be Russian some day,” words quickly welcomed by Moscow.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with Scott Bessent. Picture: AFP

“The fact that a significant part of Ukraine wants to become Russia, and has already, is a fact,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, referring to Moscow’s 2022 annexation of four Ukrainian regions after referendums widely criticised internationally as fraudulent.

The US President is pressing for a swift end to the conflict, while Mr Zelenskyy is calling for tough security guarantees from Washington as part of any deal.

Kyiv fears that any settlement that does not include hard military commitments, such as NATO membership or the deployment of peacekeeping troops, will allow the Kremlin time to regroup and rearm for a fresh attack.

TRUMP EXPECTS WAR TO BE OVER BY EASTER

Donald Trump expects the war in Ukraine to be over by Easter, according to a leaked copy of his alleged 100 day peace plan which is doing the rounds of “political and diplomatic circles”.

Ukrainian outlet Strana obtained a copy of the report which outlines the steps Mr Trump would take to smooth the road to peace.

The first step involves a phone call between Putin and Mr Trump in “late January or early February”.

US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin, pictured here in 2018, are due for another face-to-face meeting. Picture: AFP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pictured here in December with Mr Trump and French president Emmanuel Macron, has hit out at the reported plan. Picture: AFP

This would be followed by an in-person meeting between the pair in February or March.

This timeline matches up with comments both Presidents have made publicly on the matter.

“I think from what I hear, Putin would like to see me. We’ll meet as soon as we can,” Trump said at the White House on January 23.

Originally published as Ukraine’s bold land swap offer to Russia as US prisoner freed