Chance of peace talks ended with Ukraine's Kursk incursion — Russia

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region "annuls the possibility of any peace talks."

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday, Zakharova slammed Kiev's strike as a "terrorist raid," saying that after such "outrage, no one will negotiate with them (the Ukrainian authorities) at all."

"This attempt by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to invade our territory a priori — I will emphasise once again what was said by the Russian leadership, a priori — annuls any possibility of any negotiations with the bandit junta," she stressed.

Zakharova said that by launching the incursion, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hoped to strengthen his position, improve his image in the eyes of his country's citizens and get more financing from the West.

She then denounced "as lies" statements by Western politicians claiming that Kiev worked out and implemented the plan without their support.

"The US, Britain and (other) NATO countries, in the first turn the Anglo-Saxon duet, are not only ideological inspirers and sponsors but literally gunners who direct the Kiev regime at targets on the territory of the Russian Federation. Therefore, their statements that this is taking place without the support of the West are lies," she said.

Incursion's goal

Airspace over two Russian cities — Murmansk and Apatity — were closed due to the threat of drone attacks.

Russian and Ukrainian forces continue to clash in the Kursk region, where Kiev launched an incursion on August 5-6.

Russian authorities said 17 people have been killed and 140 wounded, and more than 121,000 evacuated since the start of Kiev's incursion.

Zelenskyy claimed that Ukrainian forces had captured 92 Russian settlements, describing the objective of the operation as the "establishment of a buffer zone."

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told a visiting delegation of US congressmen on Wednesday that Kiev's incursion on Russia's Kursk region was intended to protect Ukraine.

Referring to the Kursk region, Umerov was quoted as saying in a statement released by his ministry: "Our goals there are to clear the border from Russian military threats and make enemy shelling and attacks on our towns and villages impossible."

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the incursion as a "terrorist attack."