RT quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying on September 2 that Ukraine's attack on Kursk province was aimed at blocking the advance of Russian forces in Donbass, but Kiev did not achieve this goal.
Mr. Putin said that Russia has made great strides in key areas of Donbass, advancing at an unprecedented pace in a long time.
President Putin said, "the Russian armed forces are controlling the territories not by 200 or 300 meters but by square kilometers."
Mr. Putin noted that Kiev's Provocation in Kursk Oblast will certainly fail and Moscow will have solutions against those who invade Russian territory with the aim of destabilizing the situation at the border.
President Putin said that Kiev could recognize the need to resolve the conflict through negotiations and reiterated that Moscow had never refused to hold such negotiations.
However, the Russian president noted that Ukrainian leaders may not care about the end of the fighting, as they will have to hold a new presidential election immediately after martial law in the country is lifted.
"It is clear that the current administration is not ready for this, they have very little chance of being re-elected," Putin said. "That is why they are not interested in ending the fighting, that is why they are trying to carry out this province-provocation in Kursk region and before that in Belgorod province."
Meanwhile, Russia will continue to protect its people in Donbass, as well as "our common future, the future of Russia" - the President said, adding that Moscow "cannot allow hostile structures to be created right next to us, these structures set up aggressive plans against our country and continuously try to destabilize the Russian Federation".
Earlier last month, Ukraine deployed thousands of troops to Russia's Kursk region, marking the largest cross-border attack since the conflict began in 2022. The Russian Defense Ministry said that although Ukrainian forces had initially captured some border areas, their advance was eventually stopped.
