Ukraine says incursion aimed at ‘fair’ talks with Russia

AFP | Kyiv, Ukraine

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com   

Ukraine said yesterday its incursion into Russian territory was aimed at forcing Russia to negotiate on “fair” terms, as Moscow’s troops announced new gains in eastern Ukraine. Two and a half years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv’s troops last week launched a major counter-offensive into Russia’s Kursk region, sending more than 120,000 people fleeing.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday that Ukraine wanted to negotiate “on our own terms”.

“We have absolutely no plans to beg: ‘Please, sit down to negotiate’, he wrote on X.

“Instead, we have proven, effective means of coercion. In addition to economic and diplomatic ones... we need to inflict significant tactical defeats on Russia. “In the Kursk region, we can clearly see how the military tool is being used objectively to persuade Russia to enter a fair negotiation process.”

Ukraine has ruled out any talks with Russia if Russian troops do not leave its territory. President Vladimir Putin has said Russia would declare a ceasefire only if Kyiv withdraws from the four regions that Russia claims to have annexed but only partially controls -- Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Ukraine meanwhile claims to have seized over 1,100 square kilometres of Russian territory, in the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II.F