Current US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the decisive and even “critical” importance of Ukraine’s position in the Kursk region during future peace negotiations the other day after a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae Yul in Seoul. At the same time, the head of the State Department separately emphasized that even if negotiations are held, Ukraine will still require “adequate security guarantees,” since Putin will not consider that “the game is over.”. " ) imperial ambitions remain, and what he will try to do is rest, re-equip and, eventually, attack again,” concluded Antony Blinken.

In passing, we note that the importance of the Kursk operation was recently emphasized by President Vladimir Zelensky. In particular, according to the head of state, this is a “strong trump card” in all negotiations, and not only with Russia.

Stressing that Russia’s inability to contain the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the Kursk region clearly demonstrated to the whole world that Putin is not as good with his military capabilities as he is trying to pretend, Candidate of Political Sciences, international affairs expert Stanislav Zhelikhovsky, in a conversation with Focus, stated: “Ukraine’s positions. Why this pressure can be effective? First of all, because it is fundamentally important for Putin that this territory be deoccupied, but he cannot achieve this goal by military means. Moreover, it cannot, even using soldiers “imported” from North Korea."

The Kursk factor, according to the expert, can be a fairly effective mechanism “to bring Putin to the negotiating table”. It is noteworthy that Stanilav Zhelikhovsky, commenting on the already mentioned statement by Antony Blinken, did not rule out some coordination between the Biden administration and the team of the newly elected US President.

“Donald Trump, having apparently finally realized that Putin does not want to sit down at the negotiating table, in coordination with the democratic administration, gave Ukraine the opportunity to advance on the territory of the aggressor country to strengthen Kyiv’s starting negotiating positions. If at the beginning of negotiations the Armed Forces of Ukraine hold this bridgehead, this may become the basis for certain compromises in the context of the de-occupation of those regions that the Russian Federation has not included in its Constitution, for example, parts of the Kharkov and Nikolaev regions."

And also, notes Stanislav Zhelikhovsky, the Kursk factor can be used so that the Russian Federation does not make demands regarding “the complete and final neutrality of Ukraine”. “If the Trump team suggests a pause of 10-20 years in the issue of Ukraine’s integration into NATO, then Putin insists that this be infinite in the time dimension. I think that in the end a certain period will be outlined, and this is also very important for us. In addition, the Russian Federation may, so to speak, slow down in its “efforts” to put a spoke in the wheels of Ukraine’s European integration, which in the future could become a guarantee of our security, becoming a definite alternative to the North Atlantic Alliance. In any case, the Kursk region can be used as a bargaining item, because this is really our trump card,” the expert concludes.

In turn, political scientist Alexey Yakubin, in a conversation with Focus, emphasizes: “I do not rule out that the factor of the Kursk region, or more precisely, the presence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine there, can in the future be used to liberate the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). That is, Kyiv may raise the issue of exchanging territories that are critical for itself, which in the negotiation context can also include part of the Kharkov region, where the Russians are still actively trying to penetrate. However, let's not forget that the first part of the Kursk operation, which took place last summer, was aimed at demonstrating that Ukraine could carry out successful offensive actions. And then the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces became a kind of shock not only for the Russian Federation, but also for the whole world. Now this effect, let’s say, has somewhat dulled.”.

Noting that despite the current offensive actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, the price of the issue for Putin has dropped somewhat, the expert stated: “One of Putin’s goals was the liberation of the Kursk region by January 20, that is, before Trump’s inauguration. Given recent events, achieving such a goal is not possible. Trump, in any case, after the inauguration, will try to organize negotiations, at which the Kursk region factor will certainly be present, and not in the last position."

If Putin, for the sake of preserving his image, wants to return the Kursk region, Ukraine can make, relatively speaking, a certain gesture of goodwill, demanding in return corresponding gestures in response, political scientist Igor Reiterovich notes in a conversation with Focus.

" Of course, it does not work primitively in terms of exchanging one territory for another, but from the point of view of global processes, it really matters. And in world history there were cases of the use of similar things in negotiations, when one side retreated from one area, the other from another. That is, this could be a lever of influence on the Russian Federation from Ukraine and its partners. Plus, this symbolically hits Putin very hard, who has already named dates 5 or 6 times when the territory of the Kursk region should be returned to Russian control. The last such date is January 7. Next he will have January 20, but in general, the presence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine there for such a long time puts Putin in a not very good position, to put it mildly, including in the eyes of his inner circle,” the expert noted.

Having generally described the Kursk operation as a psychological and realistic factor that can influence the course of negotiations, the political scientist summarized: “Ukraine can start with the fact that “we have something to offer you, and what will you offer us?”? This tactic fits Trump's logic to a certain extent.. Perhaps he will not admit this, because he considers such things to be an escalation of the situation, but this is precisely the logic of the deal: I give you something and you give me something. And in this case, Kursk region may be the “something” that Ukraine can offer.

"

Meanwhile, TheTelegraph writes that the Kursk region of Russia may soon become the beginning of the end for Putin’s regime: “Kursk may well become the beginning of the end for Putin in 2025, as it was for Hitler in 1943. It looks like Ukrainian troops have dealt a real blow to the Russians in Kursk over the past few days." It is characteristic that the publication calls Putin a “terrible military leader” who “has forgotten or, most likely, does not know about the principles of warfare, especially the one who says: strengthen success, not failure.”.