Moscow: Russia has reiterated that it will not be pursuing peace talks with Ukraine after Kyiv’s August 6 incursion in Kursk, days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed for peace negotiations with Moscow on Ukrainian terms and asked allies including the United States to support it. Zelenskyy said his Kursk incursion was one of the core elements of the plan to increase internal pressure on the Kremlin that would ‘force’ it to end the war.
Kyiv launched a major cross-border incursion into the Kursk region on August 6 in an unprecedented attack and captured over a thousand square km while taking over 600 prisoners of war and over a hundred settlements, while Moscow’s troops are pressing towards the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. Russia was caught completely off-guard as it was busy pressing offensives in the east and is struggling to gather reserves to drive out Ukrainian forces.
Russia has called the Kursk operation a “major provocation” and said it would retaliate. Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia has always wanted to put an end to the Ukraine conflict and favoured the beginning of negotiations, but the recent events showed that the Ukraine crisis is “detached” from peace talks.
What did Russia say on peace talks?
Replying to a question on Russia’s peace proposals, Zakharova referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s earlier proposal for an initiative to end the conflict. Putin had put certain conditions for a ceasefire – such as the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from new Russian regions in Donestk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson, Ukraine’s refusal of NATO membership, cancellation of all Western sanctions against Russia and the rights of Ukraine’s Russia-speaking citizens.
These conditions were rejected as “manipulative” and “absurd” by Ukraine, who accused Putin of playing peacemaker. “Putin does not seek peace, he seeks to divide the world… Russia’s plans are not for peace, but for the continuation of the war, the occupation of Ukraine, the destruction of the Ukrainian people, and further aggression in Europe,” said Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking on the recent events in Kursk, Zakharova said,”As you know, in August, the Zelenskyy regime ventured a treacherous terrorist invasion of the Kursk Region. It was a kind of response from Ukrainian Banderites to Vladimir Putin’s peace initiative. Kyiv did not conceal that by such a risky step they intended to improve their positions in the hypothetical negotiations with Russia.”
“It is clear that when such heinous atrocities are taking place, in particular, indiscriminate attacks against civilians who have nothing to do with hostilities, against civilian infrastructure, and when threats to nuclear power facilities are created, any peace talks with the terrorist regime in Kyiv are out of the question, regardless of their initiator,” she added.
Ukraine strikes Belgorod, five killed
Ukraine’s armed forces commander General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday his troops had advanced up to 2 km in Russia’s Kursk region in the previous 24 hours. Syrskyi also said the Russians had failed in their attempts to break Ukrainian defences in the Pokrovsk area on Thursday.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region is legitimate and covered by Kyiv’s right to self-defence. “President Zelenskyy has made clear that the operation aims to create a buffer zone to prevent further Russian attacks from across the border,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities said five persons were killed and 46 injured in a Ukrainian attack on the southwestern Russian city of Belgorod late on Friday. “Once again we call on all responsible governments and relevant international structures to strongly condemn this brutal terrorist attack and publicly distance themselves from the Kyiv regime and its Western curators who commit such crimes,” said Russia’s foreign ministry on Saturday.