Dismissing Zelensky’s talk of plan to end war, Kremlin says Russia will keep fighting

KYIV - The Kremlin on Aug 28 dismissed talk by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about a plan he has to end the war and said Russia would continue what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky said on Aug 27 that he would present his plan – full details of which he did not publicly disclose – to US President Joe Biden and his two potential successors.

While addressing a news conference, he said Kyiv’s three-week-old incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was part of his plan, but it also comprised other steps on the economic and diplomatic fronts.

Mr Zelensky – who is pressing Washington to allow his forces to use long-range US-supplied arms to strike deep inside Russia – said the idea was to force Moscow to end the war.

When asked about Mr Zelensky’s plan, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “This is not the first time that we have heard such statements from representatives of the Kyiv regime. We are aware of the nature of this Kyiv regime.

“We are continuing our special military operation and will achieve all of our goals.”

Russia is engaged in repelling the Ukrainian incursion that began on Aug 6 and pressing ahead with its offensive in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

Mr Peskov said Russia supported India’s view on the need for a peaceful settlement, but added that it was “more than obvious” that there was no basis for talks now.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Aug 27 he had told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call that he backed an early, peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict, days after Mr Modi

held talks with Mr Zelensky in Kyiv

.

Mr Zelensky said he hoped to go to the US in September to attend the UN General Assembly in New York, and that he was preparing to meet Mr Biden.

His remarks indicated that he sees the main potential forum for talks as a follow-up international summit on peace, at which Ukraine has said it wants Russia to have representatives.

The first summit to advance Kyiv’s vision of peace,

held in Switzerland in June, pointedly excluded Russia while attracting scores of delegations.

But China, the world’s second-largest economy, did not take part despite Kyiv’s push to win over the global south.

‘No compromises with Putin’

Mr Zelensky has been adamant that where Russia wants to dictate terms to Ukraine in any settlement of the war,

Kyiv sees it as unacceptable.

Mr Putin has said any deal needs to start with Ukraine’s acceptance of “realities on the ground”, that would leave Russia with possession of substantial chunks of four Ukrainian regions and Crimea.

Now, Ukraine says it controls more than 1,200 sq km of Russia’s Kursk region.

“There can be no compromises with Putin, dialogue today is in principle empty and meaningless because he does not want to end the war diplomatically,” Mr Zelensky said at the news conference.

Mr Zelensky said the offensive into the Kursk region had reduced the number of governments around the world calling for Ukraine to make compromises with Russia to end the war and give up swathes of territory.

On the battlefield, Mr Zelensky mocked Mr Putin, who he said was prioritising the capture of Ukrainian land over the defence of Russia’s own territory.

He pointed to the Kursk region, where Ukraine has claimed the capture of 100 settlements, while Russian forces continue to inch forward in the eastern Donetsk region.

The Ukrainian leader also said that Kyiv was continuing to make progress on its domestic weapons production and that it had conducted its first test of a domestically produced ballistic missile. REUTERS