Russia has announced that it is not ready to negotiate with Ukraine until it regains control over the Kursk region in southwestern Russia. This was reported by the American publication Washington Post with reference to diplomatic sources.
"If the negotiations take place, Russia wants to make sure that only Ukrainian land will be the subject of discussion," the newspaper believes.
Russian experts say the same. "It is clear that Moscow will not start any negotiations until they expel all Ukrainian soldiers from Kursk," Kostyantyn Remchukov, editor-in-chief of Nezavisimoya Gazeta, told the newspaper.
At the same time, the publication states that, although Russia is intensifying its attacks in the Kursk region, it is achieving only very limited success. At the same time, the strategy of holding the Kursk region carries risks for Ukraine, "since experienced units left their positions (on the eastern front - Ed.) and focused on the Kursk operation."
"If you focus on holding Kursk, it could put other parts of the front at greater risk," said military expert Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute in Philadelphia.
He writes that Russia is advancing in eastern Ukraine at the fastest pace since 2022.
