Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian president's office, stated that Ukraine's recent actions in the Kursk region aim to bolster its position in upcoming negotiations with Russia.
According to Podolyak, Russia's losses in territory, personnel, and equipment will positively influence potential negotiations, and advancing Ukrainian forces into Russian territory will "intimidate" Russians and worsen their perception of President Vladimir Putin.
"Do they respond to anything other than fear? No, this needs to be understood. Russia sees any compromise as a sign of weakness and readiness to submit. Negotiations can only be productive if they understand the war is not going according to their script," Podolyak said on national TV.
He later noted on Telegram that the escalation in Kursk is solely due to Russia's aggression and its attempts to seize foreign territories in violation of international law.
"Russia has consistently believed that prohibitive legal norms do not apply to it, allowing it to attack neighboring countries with impunity while hypocritically demanding the inviolability of its own territories. But war has its rules, and the aggressor always reaps the consequences," Podolyak concluded.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine has an "unyielding goal—to lay a solid foundation for a just end to this war by the end of this year." He continues to work on implementing the "peace formula."
