If Putin refuses to negotiate, Ukraine will have no choice but to hold its position in the Kursk region and advance further into Russian territory.
Points of attention
- If Putin refuses to negotiate, Ukraine will have to maintain its position in the Kursk region.
- The operation of the Armed Forces in Kurshchyna should push Putin to negotiations.
- Ukraine has four key advantages in Kurshchyna, which help to strengthen its position.
- Ukraine does not plan to occupy Russian territories and seeks to bring the Russian Federation to the table on its own terms.
The operation of the Armed Forces in Kurshchyna will push Putin to negotiations
According to the newspaper, Ukraine does not seek permanent control of Russian territory, but hopes that the introduction of thousands of well-equipped soldiers trained to Western standards will force Moscow to shift its focus from eastern Ukraine and eventually push Putin to negotiate.
If Putin does not make concessions and insist on his terms, Kyiv will have to stay in the Kursk region and continue its offensive to increase pressure on Moscow. Anticipating such a development, Ukraine has already created a "military commandant's office" in the captured areas, symbolizing a new front line against Russia, the article notes.
Currently, as noted in the publication, Ukrainian forces have four key advantages in the Kursk region:
They can withdraw troops at the most strategically advantageous moment, have sufficient firepower and air defense means for protection, use a dense forest for shelter, and also hold hundreds of Russian prisoners, — Western journalists conclude.
Russia does not want to fulfill the demands of Ukraine
According to Western journalists, the readiness of Kyiv and Moscow to start negotiations indicates certain developments for both countries, at least with regard to a limited ceasefire.
According to the adviser to the head of the President's Office, Mykhailo Podoliak, Ukraine is forced to persuade the criminal Russian leadership to negotiate with Russia to end the criminal war.
Ukraine is not interested in occupying Russian territories. It is obvious. Because Ukraine is waging an exclusively defensive war strictly within the limits of international law... But if we are talking about potential negotiations — I emphasize, about potential — we will have to sit the Russian Federation across the table. On your own terms. We have absolutely no plans to plead: "Please sit down and negotiate." Instead, there are practical, effective means of coercion, Podoliak emphasizes.
As previously mentioned, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyi has stated that Ukraine will consider a full ceasefire only if Russia first withdraws all its troops from Ukrainian soil, including the Crimean peninsula, which Russia occupied 10 years ago.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin continues to cynically demand that Kyiv first give him four Ukrainian regions — including territories not occupied by Russian troops — that the Kremlin has declared part of Russia.
