But the attack on the Kursk region "shattered predictions that the two countries could move toward a ceasefire."
Now "Kyiv is making a risky bet that the invasion will give it new leverage to conclude a profitable deal with the Kremlin." But two former Russian officials said the prospects for ceasefire talks have become more remote. One of them said that Putin is now aiming "not for peace, but for revenge."
Ukrainian officials told the NYT that Zelenskyi's public statements mentioned above – combined with secret planning for an offensive on Kursk Oblast – “were two components of the same strategy.”
But "it is far from obvious that a combination of military and diplomatic pressure will work with Putin, who has so far faced political and economic obstacles at home and has shown that he is ready to bear great costs in order to win over Ukraine," the article says.
Russian politician Grigory Yavlinskyi, who met Putin last October to push for a ceasefire, said it was hoped "the hostilities will stop this year". But, according to him, it fell after the offensive of the Armed Forces in the Kursk region.
"The events that have just taken place have reduced all those chances, they have taken them off the agenda altogether," Yavlinskyi said.
