Putin Says Ukraine's Kursk Incursion Has Failed to Slow Donbas Advance

Investigators inspect the site of the Russian missile strike in an office building, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 2, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Investigators inspect the site of the Russian missile strike in an office building, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 2, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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Putin Says Ukraine's Kursk Incursion Has Failed to Slow Donbas Advance

Investigators inspect the site of the Russian missile strike in an office building, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 2, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Investigators inspect the site of the Russian missile strike in an office building, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 2, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Ukraine's incursion into Russia's western Kursk region had failed to slow the Russian advance in Donbas and had weakened Ukraine's own defenses along the frontline helping Moscow's forces.
Putin, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, said that Russian forces were pushing Ukrainian soldiers out from Kursk where they launched the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two on Aug. 6.
By transferring large numbers of well-trained units into Russia's border region, Ukraine had weakened its own defenses and had allowed Russia to accelerate its advance in eastern Ukraine, he said.
"The enemy's goal was to make us nervous and worry and to transfer troops from one sector to another and stop our offensive in key areas, primarily in the Donbas," Putin said. "Did it work? No."
"By transferring rather large and well-trained units to these border areas with us, the enemy weakened itself in key areas, and our troops accelerated offensive operations."
Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, said it was "the sacred duty of the armed forces" to expel the invaders and defend Russia's citizens. He said that the situation had stabilized and that Russia was starting to push out Ukrainian troops from Kursk.
The primary goal of Russia was to take Donbas in its entirety, he added, saying Russian forces were taking chunks of territory in eastern Ukraine more swiftly than ever - and that recruitment rates were increasing in Russia.
"No action is taking place to contain our offensive," Putin said. He said that the Russian advance on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk was successful.
Though the Kursk attack was an embarrassment for Putin and the top military brass, Russian officials are now casting the attack as one of Kyiv's biggest tactical mistakes of the war because they say it ties down thousands of their troops for little real tactical or strategic gain.
Russian forces, which control 18% of Ukraine, have been advancing in eastern Ukraine since the failure of Kyiv's 2023 counter-offensive to achieve a major breakthrough.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the attack was an attempt to bring the war to Russia, to force Putin to peace and to carve out a buffer zone to prevent Russian attacks on the neighboring Sumy region.
Ukraine's top commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that one of the objectives of the Kursk attack was to divert Russian forces from other areas, primarily in eastern Ukraine near Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.



Netanyahu Says he Believes Trump Can Help Seal Ceasefire Deal

FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the central city of Rehovot, Israel June 20, 2025. JACK GUEZ/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the central city of Rehovot, Israel June 20, 2025. JACK GUEZ/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Netanyahu Says he Believes Trump Can Help Seal Ceasefire Deal

FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the central city of Rehovot, Israel June 20, 2025. JACK GUEZ/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the central city of Rehovot, Israel June 20, 2025. JACK GUEZ/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he believed his discussions with US President Donald Trump on Monday would help advance talks on a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal that Israeli negotiators resumed in Qatar on Sunday.

Israeli negotiators taking part in the ceasefire talks have clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire agreement under conditions that Israel has accepted, Netanyahu said on Sunday before boarding his flight to Washington.

"I believe the discussion with President Trump can certainly help advance these results," he said, adding that he was determined to ensure the return of hostages held in Gaza and to remove the threat of Hamas to Israel.

It will be Netanyahu's third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power nearly six months ago.

Public pressure is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire and end the war in Gaza, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. Others, including Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, have expressed support.

Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a "positive spirit", a few days after Trump said Israel had agreed "to the necessary conditions to finalize" a 60-day truce.

But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

Netanyahu's office said in a statement that changes sought by Hamas to the ceasefire proposal were "not acceptable to Israel". However, his office said the delegation would still fly to Qatar to "continue efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to".

Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a demand the militant group has so far refused to discuss.

Netanyahu said he believed he and Trump would also build on the outcome of the 12-day air war with Iran last month and seek to further ensure that Tehran never has a nuclear weapon. He said recent Middle East developments had created an opportunity to widen the circle of peace.

On Saturday evening, crowds gathered at a public square in Tel Aviv near the defense ministry headquarters to call for a ceasefire deal and the return of around 50 hostages still held in Gaza. The demonstrators waved Israeli flags, chanted and carried posters with photos of the hostages.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Gaza's health ministry says Israel's retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, displaced the population, mostly within Gaza, and left the territory in ruins.

Around 20 of the remaining hostages are believed to be still alive. A majority of the original hostages have been freed through diplomatic negotiations, though the Israeli military has also recovered some.