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EPADuring a meeting at the video conference with Putin on Saturday Gerasimov said: “Today, the last settlement in the Kursk area, the village of Gornal, was released by the Ukrainian forces.”
He praised what he described as “heroism” of the North Korean troops, which “provided considerable assistance in the victory of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group.”
“The adventure of Kiev’s regime has completely failed,” Putin told Gerasimov, claiming that this will pave the way for more Russian progress on other fronts.
Responding to a Telegram publication, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military said The battlefield situation was “difficult” But he insisted that his forces still occupy positions in Kursk and continue to invade the Belgorod region in Russia.
The invasion of Ukraine started last August as an attempt to create a buffer zone on the border between the two countries, which will prevent Russian forces from being located on the Eastern Front of Ukraine.
A day comes after US President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” to end the war after conversations between his envoy Steve Vikof and Putin this week.
Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski before Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican on Saturday. Zelenski told the BBC on Friday that he insisted on “complete and unconditional cessation of fire” before a deal was reached.
Kiev encountered the increasing pressure from Trump to accept territorial discounts as part of any deal with Moscow to end the fight, which may include refusing the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally applied by Russia in 2014.
Ukraine hoped she could use the land she had seized in the Kursk area as a negotiating chip in future peace talks with Russia, which began her full invasion in 2022 and had It currently controls about 20% of the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine.
Russia says its troops are already on the border with Ukraine sums of a region located near Kursk.