Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Saturday that Kyiv is seeking to “bring the war” inside Russia, as Ukrainian forces continue their incursion into the Kursk region, which began on Tuesday. Kyiv has yet to comment directly on this operation.
In his daily address, Zelensky said, “Today, once again, the Commander of the Armed Forces reported on the front, on our movements, and on bringing the war to the aggressor’s territory… Ukraine is proving that it can apply the necessary pressure: pressure on the aggressor.”
On Thursday, Zelensky remarked that Russia “brought the war” to his country and must feel the consequences of its actions. This statement comes as Kyiv conducts a ground incursion into the Russian border region of Kursk.
According to AFP, Zelensky stated in his daily briefing, “Russia brought the war to our lands, and it must feel what it has done,” without directly addressing the incursion in Kursk.
Ukrainian officials have remained silent regarding this ongoing incursion, now in its third consecutive day, as did Zelensky on Thursday, who only mentioned that he received reports from the military commander and described the military operations as “effective” and “precisely what the country needs right now.”
He added, “Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. We did not choose to achieve our goals through war,” which Russia initiated in February 2022.
He continued, according to AFP: “We want to achieve our goals as quickly as possible in peacetime, through a just peace. And this will happen.”
Zelensky had previously requested that Russia be invited to participate in a second summit on peace in Ukraine. Observers speculate that Ukraine’s objective with the ground incursion in Kursk is to gain ground and improve Kyiv’s negotiating position in any future peace talks.
