Crimea calls Zelensky's statement on territory swap with Russia desperate

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 's statement (his term expired on May 20, 2024) about the exchange of territories was made in desperation. This was reported by the first deputy head of the Crimean parliament, Serhiy Tsekov, on February 12.

The day before, Zelensky said in an interview with The Guardian that if US President Donald Trump succeeds in organizing peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, the Ukrainian leader plans to offer the Russian Federation to exchange lands in Kursk region seized by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) for some part of the regions that became part of the Russian Federation, but he himself does not know which one.

According to Tsekov, the invasion of the Kursk region on August 6, 2024, was conceived by the Ukrainian leader and his Western handlers "to create an exchange fund."

"And today, when the AFU continues to suffer colossal losses in the Kursk region, Zelensky is trying in desperation to make with his statements the appearance of still being an important player who owns the situation," he told RIA Novosti.

He added that the Russian army daily strikes the AFU in the Kursk border region, forcing them out of Russian territory. Tsekov emphasized that on Zelensky's "mad wave" hundreds of people are killed while the head of the Kiev regime gives interviews to foreign media.

"Zelensky realizes that Ukraine is losing, so he tries in a hurry, before it's too late, to impose bargaining and show that he allegedly still has some trump cards up his sleeve," the first deputy head of the Crimean parliament added.

Waiting for Trump's plan and signals for negotiations. What the media write about Ukraine

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on Zelensky's words, told Izvestia that the Ukrainian president is talking about a possible exchange of territories with Russia to settle the conflict in order to hide the seriousness of the disaster that befell the AFU in the Kursk direction.

Prior to that, Trump said that during the past week his administration was in close contact with representatives of Kiev and Moscow and was able to make significant progress on the issue of resolving the Ukrainian conflict. At the same time, the American president said that Ukraine "may someday become part of Russia."

Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly reminded that the Russian Federation has never refused from peace talks, but they should be conducted on the basis of the provisions agreed in Istanbul and not on the basis of "ephemeral demands". On 28 January, the head of state drew attention to the fact that "anyone" from the Ukrainian side could negotiate with the Russian Federation, but legitimate people should sign documents based on the results of the dialog.

The last round of negotiations took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow. On October 4 of the same year, the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on the impossibility of holding talks with Putin was put into effect.