President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Ukraine will hold the captured Russian territories indefinitely in order to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to start negotiations. That’s what he’s about reported in an interview with NBC.
According to Zelenskyi, the Ukrainian Armed Forces currently control part of Kursk Oblast, which borders Sumy Oblast, and plan to maintain control over it as part of the “peace plan.” The president emphasized that this step is aimed at increasing pressure on the Kremlin and forcing it to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
“We do not seek to seize their land and do not intend to plant our Ukrainian way of life there.”, – emphasized Zelensky.
He also noted that maintaining this territory is important for ensuring Ukraine’s negotiating position.
Zelenskyi emphasized that in September, Ukraine will provide the USA with a “victory plan”, in which, among the key directions, an operation in the Kursk region is foreseen. The president did not disclose possible plans for further territorial operations, noting that this issue cannot be discussed in public.
The president also noted that Russia has already transferred 60,000 of its troops from other areas of the front to the Kursk region, but this has not led to significant changes in other directions, in particular, in Pokrovsky, where Russian forces are conducting active operations. Earlier, on August 27, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky reported that Russia had transferred about 30,000 troops to Kurshchyna, but this did not affect the course of hostilities in the Donetsk region either.
