Russia’s campaign of overnight air-strikes on Ukraine’s civilians hits peace talks – whilst Russian President Vladimir Putin makes an embarrassing trip to frontline forces inside his own border
Russia has delivered a significant body blow to the Ukraine war peace talks by continuing its brutal campaign of overnight drone strikes.
It is also believed the Kremlin has demanded no NATO membership for Ukraine, no foreign troops in Ukraine and global recognition of Russian ownership of Crimea and four other provinces. It is likely Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the West will push back against most of the Russian demands as he has made it clear Kyiv must have a security backstop. As Zelensky has said repeatedly, nobody seriously believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will keep his word in any agreement unless he is forced to.
That means there must be a NATO red line against any further Russian incursions and that means a tense time in the countdown to any deal being struck. Putin’s frontline visit is hugely significant as it piles pressure on his troops to press their counter-offensive on Ukraine’s military. He is showing he is confident his troops will further drive back Ukraine’s troops in the Kursk region as they try to recapture occupied Russian territory.
It is true that Ukraine is losing ground in Kursk but Kyiv’s troops have hugely embarrassed the Kremlin by holding it for so long against the odds. By breaking through the border into Kursk last year Ukraine diverted Russian troops from the frontline and put the Kremlin on the back foot. Now Russia is gaining ground with top Army officer General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov telling Putin his forces have advanced more than 700 square miles in their offensive in Kursk.
Ukraine’s incursion inside Russia has cost Putin dear, not that he cares about the deaths of the thousands of soldiers, Russian and North Korean, who had died in Kyiv’s counter-attack. He will care because it chips away further at his reputation as a shrewd operator and leader who has dismissed this bloody war as a ‘special military operation.’ Ukraine took the war to Russia for months inside its own border, rattling the Kremlin with its audacity. It should have learned by now – Russians underestimating Kyiv’s military will likely do so at their peril as had been proved repeatedly on the frontline.
Kyiv had also hoped occupying the border region inside Russia would be a bargaining chip to be used as leverage in any peace agreement. But Russians seeing publicity of Putin’s visit wearing military fatigues also know that this is a frontline inside Russia and not Ukraine. Nobody dares say it publicly but this was not a Putin victory visit since it was still inside Russia – a huge embarrassment for a bungling leader who hoped his invasion would be over in days.