But the attack on the Kursk region "shattered into dust predictions that the two countries could move toward a ceasefire.".
Now, “Kyiv is taking a risky gamble that the invasion will give it new leverage to strike a deal with the Kremlin.” But two former Russian officials said the prospects for ceasefire talks had become more remote. One said Putin was now aiming “not for peace, but for revenge.”.
Ukrainian officials told the NYT that Zelensky’s aforementioned public statements – combined with the secret planning of an offensive against the Kursk region – “were two components of the same strategy.”.
But “it is far from clear 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 willing to incur great costs for the sake of victory over Ukraine,” the article says.
Russian politician Grigory Yavlinsky, who met with Putin last October to push for a ceasefire, said there was hope that “the fighting would stop this year.” But that hope, he said, collapsed after the Ukrainian military offensive in the Kursk region.
"The events that have just taken place have reduced all these chances, they have taken them off the agenda altogether," Yavlinsky said.
