Trump urges ceasefire negotiations, Ukraine sees Kursk as a means of pressure

Trump urges ceasefire negotiations, Ukraine sees Kursk as a means of pressure

Ukraine launched new attacks in the Southern Russian region of Kursk, while US President Donald Trump is urging talks about an armistice. The US Institute for War Studies (Institute for the Study of War) reported that Ukrainian armed forces initiated a new series of attacks in the Kursk region on Thursday and advanced up to five kilometers behind Russian lines in the southeast of Sudzha.

goals of the Ukrainian attacks

It is unclear whether the attacks aim to conquer more territory or to strengthen Ukraine's defense positions. The ISW analyst Angelica Evans was impressed by the success of the Ukrainian troops. "To see that the Ukrainians are able to penetrate into the Russian defenses and move up to five kilometers, that's something we see at no point in the Russians," she said in an interview with Cnn.

surprise for ally

kyjiw even surprised his allies with the attack on the Russian area and continues to fight in Kursk, even if the situation on other fronts is extremely difficult. On Friday, Russia claimed to have taken control of Toretsk, an industrial city in the east of Ukraine. This city has been a central battleground in the past six months. Ukraine has not commented on this claim, but in the event of confirmation, the case of Toretsk would mean another strategic victory for Moscow, since Russian troops would be closer to important Ukrainian defense positions.

Russian progress and Ukrainian queries

At the same time, Russian troops are pushing towards Pokrowsk, a logistical center in eastern Ukraine, which has been in the sights of Russia since summer, and Kupjansk in the north. Some military members in Ukraine question why Kiymij should invest valuable resources in Russia while the country has difficulty defending its own territory. The answer to this should be the expectation that Trump may soon put pressure on Ukraine to start talks with Russia.

negotiation position of Ukraine

"The country actually held that the Ukrainians own in Kursk has no value of their own. They are fields and settlements that do not represent a threat to the city of Kursk or plan an attack on Moscow," said Evans. "But if we think of peace negotiations, control over Russian territory could be a decisive advantage for the Ukrainians when it comes to negotiations on their own territory or other things that they want to get off the Russians in future peace negotiations," she added.

strategic considerations of Ukraine

The military and political leaders of Ukraine have repeatedly emphasized that the operation in Kursk is aiming to prevent a new Russian attack in the north of Ukraine and to force Moscow to deduct some of his troops from other fronts. The advance in Kursk was the greatest strategic gain in Ukraine since Cherson's liberation in November 2022 and gave the country an enormous moral buoyancy.

Trump's influence on peace

this week when Trump continued to negotiate the end of the war, the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj made it clear that Kiymij Kursk sees as a potential means of negotiation. In his nightly speech to the nation, he described the advance as "a very important operation" and said: "You will later see what conditions the Russians have to meet in relation to the direction when we reach a diplomatic agreement to terminate the war." Trump has made it clear that he wants the talks between Russia and Ukraine to start "as soon as possible".

rare strategic achievements of Ukraine

There have been six months now since Ukraine started its surprise advance into the Kursk region. Although Russia was able to recapture more than half of the territory originally taken by Ukraine, this happened at a high price for Moscow. The general staff of Ukraine reported on Thursday that Russia has lost 40,000 soldiers in the past six months, including 16,100 deaths. "The Ukrainian armed forces captured 909 Russian military members and thus increased the exchange fund considerably.

conclusion: pressure on Russia

The invasion marked the first time since World War II that foreign troops have taken control of Russian territory, which is a large embarrassment for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian military leadership estimates that Russia has used around 78,000 soldiers in Kursk, which are several times as many as the Ukrainian armed forces. Evans found that these Russian forces, which also include elite units, are distracted and bound, while otherwise they could probably fight at the front in the east of Ukraine, where they could do considerable damage. Despite the numerical advantage, the Russian army had difficulty driving the Ukrainians out of their territory and ultimately brought about foreign reinforcements by sending around 12,000 North Korean soldiers to the Tense region.

Evans said that Russia has difficulty suppressing the Ukrainian armed forces because Kyjiw is technologically superior, especially with drones and electronic warfare.