The Hill, a top US political website, read by the White House:
Ukraine is leaning into its efforts to hold onto the Russian territory of Kursk amid intense pressure from Russian and North Korean forces to take it back, apparently gambling that the region could be a valuable card in potential negotiations with Moscow.
After weeks of Russian and North Korean advances in Kursk, Ukraine launched a minor offensive on Sunday to push forces back and retain a grip on the roughly 300 square miles Ukrainian troops still hold.
With less than two weeks before President-elect Trump takes office with a promise to negotiate an end to the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appears to be doubling down on Kursk as both a strategic necessity and a bargaining chip, despite lingering questions about the operation’s tactical value.
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Brock Bierman, visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said the limited nature of the Kursk operation might point to Ukraine feeling out Russia’s capabilities and could lead to a larger offensive maneuver.
Bierman also said Ukraine will benefit from any operations to strengthen its position “as the time draws near for the Trump administration to take power.”
“Anything they can do in advance, both Russia and Ukraine, they’re going to do whatever they can because once the Trump administration comes in, they’re going to be much more bottom line,” he said. “I look at both sides trying to leverage as much they can because Trump is going to, in effect, end this war one way or the other.”