Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s operation in Russia’s Kursk region is part of a broader military, political and diplomatic effort aimed at getting Russia to accept a “just peace.”
“Everything we are doing is aimed at forcing Russia to prepare for a just peace,” Zelensky told Indian journalists in Kyiv on Sunday, according to his Telegram page. He added in a daily video statement that Ukraine had taken control of two more settlements in the Kursk region.
The Ukrainian leader also discussed with visiting media the planned second peace summit in Ukraine, Meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, and Kiev’s hope for its integration into the European Union.
Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region this month. Zelensky said Saturday the move was to protect the northeastern Sumy region and capture Russian soldiers who could be used in prisoner of war Exchanges.
Read more: Zelensky says Kursk operation is going according to plan
The Kremlin said on Sunday that Putin received reports on Saturday evening from at least five commanders who were involved in combat missions in Russian territory bordering Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces claim to have captured more than 1,250 square kilometres (483 square miles) of territory in the first foreign military offensive inside Russia since World War II.
In an operational update, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces continue to repel Ukrainian efforts in several settlements in the Kursk region, from which thousands of residents have fled in recent weeks.
“Reconnaissance and search operations are continuing to identify and destroy enemy sabotage groups in forested areas that were trying to penetrate deep into Russian territory,” the ministry said.
The Kremlin on Saturday released a video of Putin’s meeting with Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff. It was not clear when the meeting took place.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in an emailed statement that Ukrainian intelligence also noted a large concentration of Belarusian military personnel, artillery and air defense in the Gomel region near Ukraine’s northern border under the guise of military training.
Ukraine urged Belarus to avoid “tragic mistakes under pressure from Moscow” and withdraw troops to a distance beyond the reach of Belarusian regimes.