A Message and a New Tactic… Kursk, Russia, Redefines War and Truce

15th March 2025

3 minutes read

A Message and a New Tactic… Kursk, Russia, Redefines War and Truce

The Russian president has not yet revealed the contents of his response to the ceasefire proposal, but developments in Kursk suggest that the battlefield itself will reshape the balance of power.

This Friday, the Russian presidency (the Kremlin) announced that President Vladimir Putin had handed U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff a message for President Donald Trump regarding Washington’s ceasefire proposal in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated, “Once Witkoff conveys all the information to President Trump, we will schedule a call between the two presidents,” expressing “cautious optimism” during his daily briefing, which was attended by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Peskov added that Putin was “generally in agreement” with Trump on Ukraine, but there was still a lot of work to be done.

Formation of Monitoring Teams

Earlier today, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha announced that Kyiv had begun forming a team to determine ways to monitor any potential ceasefire.

“We have already started forming a national team that will work on developing appropriate procedures to properly monitor a potential ceasefire,” he said in media statements in Kyiv.

Kursk

On the same day, the Russian army announced that it had regained control of the town of Goncharovka in the Russian region of Kursk, continuing its advance in an area occupied by Ukrainian forces in the summer of 2024.

The Ministry of Defense stated that its forces had “liberated” the town, located on the outskirts of the city of Sudzha, which Russia had confirmed recapturing from the Ukrainian army on Thursday.

Russia has been making battlefield gains for over a year, and yesterday it declared that it had expelled Ukrainian forces from the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region.

In response to Russia’s advances, Ukrainian authorities ordered the evacuation of eight border villages and towns adjacent to Kursk on Thursday.

On Thursday, Putin stressed that Russia “agrees with proposals aimed at ending hostilities, but we operate under the principle that this truce must lead to lasting peace and address the root causes of this crisis,” adding, however, that “there are subtle differences.”

Russia has ruled out accepting the presence of foreign peacekeeping forces in Ukraine as part of a ceasefire or any long-term security guarantee for Kyiv.

This stance may conflict with a request made by Ukraine to its European allies to deploy “units” on its territory once the conflict ends, to protect against potential future attacks from Russia.

Zelensky under Pressure

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Thursday that Putin‘s remarks regarding the U.S. proposal for a temporary truce in the ongoing war between Moscow and Kyiv were full of “manipulation,” accusing him of “stalling” to prolong the conflict.

In his nightly address, Zelensky stated, “We have all heard Putin’s highly predictable remarks, full of manipulation,” calling for increased pressure on Moscow.

In his first comments on the U.S. proposal, which has Ukraine’s approval, Putin said he supported the idea of a ceasefire but that there were “serious questions” that required discussions with Washington.

Zelensky accused his Russian counterpart of preparing to “reject” the U.S. proposal, claiming that Putin “fears openly telling Trump that he wants to continue the war.”