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Russia-Ukraine War: The possible partial ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine has seen another roadblock with Russian officials again started showing reluctance in holding truce talks with Kyiv counterparts following Ukraine’s incursion into the western Kursk region in Russia. The Kursk incursion came as both Russia and Ukraine were about to send their delegates to Doha earlier this month to negotiate a significant agreement to end strikes from both sides.

In a fresh statement, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s security council on Wednesday clarified that Kursk incursion means that “there will be no talks between Moscow and Kyiv until Ukraine is completely defeated."

"The empty chatter of intermediaries that no one had appointed about the wonderful peace is over. Everyone understands everything now, even though they do not say it out loud," Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app. 

“Recently, even if theoretically, there has been a danger: a negotiation trap, into which our country, in certain circumstances, could have fallen. Namely, the first unnecessary peace negotiations proposed by the international community and imposed on the Kyiv regime. With unclear prospects and consequences,” the former Russian president continued, adding that this option has now been entirely invalidated following the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk.

"There will be no more negotiations until the complete defeat of the enemy,” Medvedev added. 

On August 6, Ukrainian troops breached the Russian border and advanced into parts of Russia's western Kursk region, a surprise attack that exposed the vulnerabilities in Russian border defences in that area.

Russia Claims Western Intelligence Aided Ukraine's Kursk Invasion

Russia on Wednesday claimed that Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region was coordinated with intelligence support from the United States, Britain, and Poland, according to a report by Izvestia. 

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces operation in the Kursk region was prepared with the participation of the US, UK and Polish intelligence services. The units involved in it underwent combat coordination in training centres in the UK and Germany,” Izvestia cited the Foreign Intelligence Service as saying.

Ukraine’s attack on August 6 marked the largest invasion of Russian territory since World War II. Kyiv has stated that the operation aims to establish a buffer zone and weaken Russia’s military.

Earlier today, Russian President Vladimir Putin also made an unexpected visit to Chechnya during the ongoing Ukraine's Kursk incursion. He met with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and other senior Chechen officials. Together, they reviewed Chechen troops and volunteers getting ready for combat in Ukraine. Putin also toured the special forces university, commending those who had fought for the "fatherland".