Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, wearing fatigues, visited a command put up close to the entrance in Kursk late Wednesday to cheer on his navy’s ejection of Ukrainian forces from the Russian border area.
The Russian chief’s pointed go to got here a day after a U.S. delegation met in Saudi Arabia with Ukrainian officials, who agreed to a 30-day cease-fire within the battle. American officials planned to take the proposal to Mr. Putin, who has beforehand mentioned he’s not keen on a brief truce.
Wearing a inexperienced camouflage uniform, Mr. Putin sat at a desk with maps unfold out in entrance of him, based on pictures launched by the Kremlin. He appeared with Russia’s prime navy officer, Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov.
In video footage launched by Russian state media, Mr. Putin praised the Russian navy formations that had taken again territory captured by Ukraine within the Kursk area. He referred to as on the troops to grab the territory for good from Ukrainian forces, who’ve been occupying portions of the Russian border region since last summer. Kyiv had hoped to make use of the territory as a bargaining chip in peace talks.
The Russian chief additionally demanded that Ukrainian forces seized within the area be handled and prosecuted as terrorists below Russian regulation. Basic Gerasimov mentioned greater than 400 Ukrainian troops had been captured within the operations.
“People who find themselves on the territory of the Kursk area, committing crimes right here in opposition to the civilian inhabitants and opposing our armed forces, regulation enforcement companies and particular companies, in accordance with the legal guidelines of the Russian Federation, are terrorists,” Mr. Putin mentioned.
He added that “overseas mercenaries” don’t fall below the Geneva Conference governing the therapy of prisoners of battle. The battle, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has drawn overseas fighters. This month, Russia sentenced a 22-year-old British man who had volunteered for the Ukrainian Military to 19 years in jail on terrorism and mercenary fees, after his capture in the Kursk region final yr.
Russian forces stepped up an offensive to push Ukrainian troops out of the area this week, as Kyiv reeled from the Trump administration’s resolution final week to freeze U.S. intelligence and navy help to Ukraine after an explosive confrontation in the Oval Office between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
After talks on Tuesday with Ukrainian officers in Saudi Arabia, the Trump administration introduced that it might resume the help.
By then, Russian forces had been already nicely on their strategy to taking again Sudzha, the principle inhabitants heart within the Kursk area that was captured by Ukraine final yr.
For months, Ukraine’s occupation of Russian territory has been a sore level for Moscow, which bolstered its forces with North Korean troopers in an try to take again the land.
Russian officers boasted of a breakthrough assault in Kursk final Saturday, when, they mentioned, some 800 fighters traveled about 10 miles by a disused fuel pipeline to hold out a shock assault on the Ukrainian rear.
Ukraine’s prime navy commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, mentioned in a statement that Ukrainian forces had been transferring to “extra advantageous positions” and would “maintain the road within the Kursk area for so long as it stays affordable and needed.” He added, “In essentially the most tough conditions, my precedence has been and stays the preservation of Ukrainian troopers’ lives.”
Mr. Putin has mentioned that any momentary cease-fire or truce will solely present a bonus to Ukrainian forces, who’re on the again foot on the battlefield and will use the reprieve to replenish personnel.
Russia has demanded a broader safety settlement backed by the West, together with a assure that Ukraine won’t be admitted to the NATO navy alliance, in addition to different commitments that threat eroding Ukraine’s sovereignty.
“We don’t want a truce,” Mr. Putin mentioned throughout his annual information briefing in December. “We want peace: a long-term and lasting peace with ensures for the Russian Federation and its residents.”
Marc Santora contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.
