Russia says Kursk attack means no peace talks with Ukraine for now, but keeps proposals on table

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Monday that Moscow was not ready to hold peace talks with Ukraine for now given Kyiv’s attack on Russia’s Kursk region, but that Russia was not withdrawing its earlier peace proposals.

Ushakov made the comments in a video statement broadcast by the SHOT news outlet.

“At this stage, given this venture (Kursk), we will not talk,” said Ushakov.

Ukraine’s lightning incursion, the biggest into Russia by a foreign power since World War Two, began on Aug. 6 when thousands of Ukrainian troops crossed Russia’s western border in a major embarrassment for the Russian military.

Asked if proposals for peace talks put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin in June were now off the table, Ushakov said they were not.

“No, they (the proposals) have not been cancelled. But at this point, of course, it would be completely inappropriate to enter into any kind of negotiation process,” said Ushakov.

Asked how long Moscow would maintain its stance on pausing the prospect of any talks with Kyiv, Ushakov said:

“I don’t know. It will depend on the situation, including on the battlefield.”

Putin in June said that Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow, demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender.