Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to swap land in negotiations with Russia, which freed an American prisoner in a gesture President Donald Trump described Tuesday as a goodwill gesture on ending the war.
Zelenskyy, who will meet Friday at the Munich Security Conference with US Vice President JD Vance, a vocal critic of US military support to Ukraine, described himself as ready for serious talks.
"We will swap one territory for another," he said in an interview with The Guardian.
Zelenskyy, who in the past has refused to cede any territory invaded by Russia, said he was ready to trade land in Russia's Kursk region which Ukraine seized in a surprise offensive last year.
He acknowledged that Ukraine would not be able to enjoy security guarantees just with European partners.
"Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees," he said.
Trump took office vowing to end the war in Ukraine, possibly by leveraging billions of dollars in US assistance sent under former president Joe Biden, to force Kyiv into territorial concessions.
In the first known visit by a member of the Trump administration to Russia since he returned to the White House last month, envoy Steve Witkoff secured the release of Marc Fogel, an American jailed since 2021 on drug charges.
"We were treated very nicely by Russia," Trump told reporters of Fogel's release. "Actually, I hope that's the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war."
The White House described his release as part of an "exchange," without offering further details.
The US envoy in charge of hostages, Adam Boehler, posted a picture that appeared to show Fogel savouring a stiff drink on a jet home.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, where state-run news agencies quoted the White House announcement.
Russia's Supreme Court in December refused to consider an appeal Fogel made against his 14-year sentence.
Witkoff, a property developer and friend of Trump, is officially the Middle East envoy and earlier played a key role in pushing forward a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
Trump also announced a visit to Ukraine by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent -- another official in his cabinet on a mission unrelated to his primary job.
Trump in a Fox News interview aired Monday floated that Ukraine "may be Russian someday," words quickly welcomed by Moscow.
"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 criticized internationally as fraudulent.
Ukrainians reacted with scorn to Trump's remarks.
"It is some kind of senile insanity," Kyiv resident Daniil told AFP.
A Ukrainian soldier on a street in central Kyiv, who only gave the name Mykola, said of Trump: "He can think anything and say anything, but Ukraine will never be Russia."
Trump in the past has voiced admiration for Putin and notoriously backed his denial of the US intelligence community's finding of Russian interference in the Republican's 2016 election victory.
But Trump in recent weeks has also called on Russia to compromise, saying that Putin needs to cut heavy losses.
Both armies are trying to secure an advantage on the battlefield ahead of possible talks.
Russia's defence ministry said Tuesday its troops had captured the small village of Yasenove in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
In Ukraine's northern Sumy region, regional prosecutors said Russian bombing killed a 40-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman.
