Ukraine’s offensive derails secret efforts for partial cease-fire with Russia, officials say
Washington PostAUG 13 2024
Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, commenting on his country's ongoing operations in Russia's Kursk region on Sunday, said that the objectives were to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and create a buffer zone.
"Everything that inflicts losses on the Russian army, Russian state, their military-industrial complex, and their economy helps prevent the war from expanding and brings us closer to a just end to this aggression — a just peace for Ukraine," Zelenskyy added.
The remarks reiterate the point made by Zelenskyy's advisor Mykhailo Podolyak in public comments last week — highlighting Ukraine's motivation for launching the Kursk offensive — stating that the incursion was designed to persude Moscow to enter into what he described as "fair" peace talks.
The aim of Ukraine's Kursk offensive is to inflict maximum damage to Russian manpower and equipment. Only then will Russia see that fighting this war is unsustainable and this will usher in a just end to the conflict.
Ukraine believes that by grabbing territory in Russia, it will make Russia accept an end to the conflict on Zelenskyy's terms. As the next few months will demonstrate, that is not how things are going to go.