Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Feb. 17 said there could be “no thought of” territorial concessions to Ukraine on the eve of talks with the U.S. over how to end Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014, as well as the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts in 2022.
Russia’s claims to have annexed the four oblasts in their entirety were made despite not controlling all of them, including two regional capitals - Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that as a condition for peace negotiations, Ukrainian troops must leave Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
I assume all of Kursk belongs to Ukraine now, based on this logic. Too bad it’s not worth anything.