Moscow rejects Ukraine territory swap

The Kremlin said yesterday Russia will never discuss trading the Ukrainian territory it holds for areas in Russia's western Kursk region held by Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Guardian newspaper that he planned to offer Russia a straight territory exchange to help bring an end to the war, including offering pockets of Kursk that Ukraine holds.

Kyiv staged a lightning incursion over the border last August and seized chunks of Kursk, from which Russian troops are still battling to eject them.

"We will swap one territory for another," Zelensky said, adding that he did not know which part of Russian-occupied territory Ukraine would ask for back.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow categorically rejects all offers to trade territory.

REUTERS