The Russian president claims Kyiv’s bid had an reverse impact, permitting Moscow to speed up its offensive in japanese Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin says Ukraine’s weeks-long ongoing incursion in Russia’s Kursk area is geared toward slowing the Russian advance within the Ukrainian area of Donbas, nevertheless it has failed.
Talking on the Jap Financial Discussion board in Russia’s Vladivostok, Putin mentioned on Thursday that capturing Donbas was Moscow’s principal intention in the full-scale war launched in 2022 and Ukraine’s transfer in opposition to Russian border areas had merely weakened its forces alongside the remainder of the entrance.
“The intention of the enemy was to make us fear … and to cease our offensive in key areas, particularly within the Donbas, the liberation of which is our major goal,” he mentioned.
“Did it work? No.”
Russian forces, which management 18 % of Ukraine, have been advancing in japanese Ukraine because the failure of Kyiv’s 2023 counteroffensive to attain a big breakthrough.
Kursk incursion
On August 6, within the greatest international assault on Russian sovereign territory since World Struggle II, hundreds of Ukrainian troopers smashed by means of the Russian border aided with swarms of drones, heavy weaponry and artillery, some Western-made.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the Kursk assault was an try and deliver the war to Russia, to drive Putin to peace and to carve out a buffer zone to stop Russian assaults on the neighbouring Sumy area.
Ukraine’s high commander, Normal Oleksandr Syrskii, mentioned one of many goals of the Kursk assault was to divert Russian forces from different areas, primarily in japanese Ukraine close to Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
“By transferring fairly giant and well-trained models to those border areas with us, the enemy weakened itself in key areas, and our troops accelerated offensive operations,” Putin mentioned. He mentioned the Russian advance on Pokrovsk was profitable.
Putin additionally mentioned it was Russia’s “sacred obligation” to expel the invaders.
“Our armed forces have stabilised the scenario [in Kursk] and began regularly squeezing [the enemy] out from our territory,” he claimed.
Putin mentioned he was prepared for talks with Ukraine, after having beforehand rebuffed the thought of negotiations whereas the Kursk offensive was ongoing.
The president mentioned the talks must be based mostly on an aborted deal between negotiators of each nations reached in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2022, the phrases of which had been by no means made public.
“Are we prepared to barter with them? We’ve by no means refused to take action, however not on the premise of some ephemeral calls for, however on the premise of these paperwork that had been agreed and really initialled in Istanbul,” Putin mentioned.
The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed Russia and Ukraine had been on the verge of a deal in 2022, shortly after Moscow launched its invasion.
“We managed to achieve an settlement, that’s the entire level. The signature of the top of the Ukrainian delegation who initialled this doc testifies to this, which signifies that the Ukrainian facet was typically glad with the agreements reached,” Putin mentioned.
“It didn’t come into drive solely as a result of they got a command not to take action, as a result of the elites of the US, Europe – some European nations – needed to attain a strategic defeat of Russia,” Putin added.
There was no rapid response from Ukraine on Putin’s claims.