CNN
–
Vladimir Putin was his first visit to Kursk since claiming that he had fully regained the Russian region from Ukrainian forces, state media on Wednesday attempted to fight back international pressure to agree to a 30-day ceasefire on the other side of the border.
Putin met with city leaders in Kurchatov and visited the Kursk nuclear power plant currently under construction, the Kremlin said, according to a Tass news agency. Video footage posted by Russian state media showed the president wearing a suit talking to what appears to be a local volunteer.
The Kremlin head hopes that the visit, which appeared to have been made on Tuesday, will signal strength to the US and the West at a time when Moscow is being pressured to suspend attacks on Ukraine.
One day after Putin’s phone call on Monday with President Donald Trump, Russian leaders do not appear to offer clear concessions to the conflict.
Vladimir Putin visits nuclear power plants in Kursk region
Kiev attacked Russian border territory in August last year. This was Russia’s first ground invasion by a foreign power since World War II, dominated parts of the region that Moscow claimed to have finally recaptured it with the help of North Korean soldiers later last month.
During his visit, Putin said, according to Ria Novosti’s news agency, Ukrainian troops were still trying to move towards the Russian border. He also ordered an increase in the number of closed units in Kursk, so that displaced people can return home, Ria Novosti reported.
Kyiv took the view that it would pour valuable resources into retaining Kursk’s territory during the months of invasion and would be used as a key negotiation tip for peace negotiations. Such a dialogue did not come to light until last week when Kiev and Moscow teams began meeting in person in Turkey to discuss the end of the war.
After Russia claimed it had regained control of Kursk in April, Kiev claimed that its troops were fighting hard to maintain their foothold on the territory. Last week, Ukraine said it was still pursuing a ground war within Russia.
“We continue our active business in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, and we are actively defending the Ukrainian border region,” Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelensky said in a nightly speech last Wednesday.
Putin once again refused to commit to the 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington and Kiev in a call with Trump earlier this week.
He was ready to work with Ukraine in a “possible ceasefire for a certain period of time,” but neither Putin nor Trump discussed the time frame for the truce, said Kremlin presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
Following the call, the European Union has announced new sanctions on nearly 200 vessels in Russian so-called “shadow fleet” tankers. It says it will transport Russian oil for export to avoid Western sanctions.
Separately, Moscow and Kiev accused each other of launching drone attacks on each other’s territory overnight until Wednesday.
Ukraine said Russia destroyed 63 of the 76 long-range drones that were attacking it last night.
Russia said it destroyed 159 Ukrainian attack drones through their territory.
