Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed this during a Sept. 3 interview with NBC News. According to the comedian-turned-chief executive, Kyiv will hold the territory as it is integral to his "victory plan" to end the Russia-Ukraine war that began in February 2022. Zelensky said he plans to present this proposal to the U.S. and other international partners.
"For now, we need it," he said of the Kursk region. "[Ultimately], we don't need their land. We don't want to bring our Ukrainian way of life there."
Zelensky noted during the interview – his first one-on-one since the Aug. 6 incursion into Kursk – that the operation was a "preemptive strike" to stop the Russians from creating a buffer zone along the Ukrainian border.
"Kyiv now claims it controls nearly 500 square miles of Russian territory and has taken hundreds of Russian prisoners of war," NBC News wrote. "With Kyiv intensifying its attacks on border regions, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has vowed to take Ukrainian border territory to stop the assaults."
When asked whether Kyiv planned to try seizing more Russian territory beyond Kursk, Zelensky declined to expound. "I will not tell, I'm sorry. With all (due) respect, I can't speak about it," the Ukrainian leader said. "I think the success is very close to surprise."
While talk of peace negotiations has become louder, Kyiv has insisted that it would only sit down with Moscow from a position of power – with its control of Kursk giving it the edge. A second peace summit is scheduled for November and, according to Zelensky, Russia ought to attend.
"We understand that without the Russian side, ending this war diplomatically is very difficult," he remarked. But given the Aug. 6 incursion of the Kursk region, Russian officials have remarked that peace negotiations were impossible.
Zelensky claims U.S. had no idea about the Kursk incursion
During his interview with NBC News, Zelensky also pointed out that the Biden administration had no idea about the Aug. 6 incursion. Even the U.S. government has repeatedly stressed that it was not in on Kyiv's plans for the Russian territory.
According to the Ukrainian president, it was a closely guarded secret that even Ukrainian intelligence services did not know about. "Yes, we did not inform anyone – and it's not the question of lack of trust," he said.
Zelensky explained that Kyiv's counteroffensive last summer failed in many ways because of how much it was talked about in the media. This publicity, he continued, gave the Russians a chance to prepare.
"I shrunk to the maximum the circle of people who knew about this operation. I think it was one of the reasons why it was successful"
Retired Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, a former analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense, said Washington was definitely aware of the plan for Kursk despite its denials. She voiced out her skepticism during an interview with Sputnik News. (Related: Analyst: Ukraine's attack on Kursk IMPOSSIBLE without U.S. support.)
"All Ukrainian military activities – especially long-planned ones – utilize U.S. surveillance, intelligence and reconnaissance assistance. The Kursk invasion qualifies here. The weapons systems themselves included U.S. and NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] systems, and some of those are operated by U.S. and NATO personnel," she told the outlet.
"I don't believe Western government officials … were surprised. While bold, it was destined to be repelled. And it risked and made vulnerable the rest of the [Ukrainian] military and the remainder of Ukraine."
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Watch this news report about Russia's claim that Ukraine is planning a "provocation" at Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.
This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com.
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