Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev stressed on Wednesday that Russia could have fallen into a "negotiation trap" were it not for the developments in the Kursk Region.

On his Telegram channel, Medvedev wrote, "Recently, although theoretically, there was one danger — a negotiation trap, where our country could fall under certain circumstances. Namely — early unnecessary peace negotiations proposed by the international community and imposed on the Kiev government with unclear prospects and consequences."

"After the neo-Nazis committed an act of terrorism in the Kursk Region, everything fell into place," he continued, adding that there will be no negotiations with Kiev "until the enemy is completely defeated."

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that as Ukrainian forces attempted to press deeper into Russia, Zelensky took advantage of the current situation to challenge a long-standing limitation imposed by Kiev's backers: the restriction on using Western-supplied long-range weapons against Russia.

This comes after a report by The Wall Street Journal reported that President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated on Monday that Ukraine’s unexpected offensive into western Russia, now in its third week, demonstrates to the West that concerns over the repercussions of strikes on Russian territory are misplaced and should be reconsidered.

Ukrainian forces fail to advance 

On that note, it is worth highlighting that Ukrainian forces’ attempts to advance have been halted across the entirety of Russia's Kursk region, with their key resources eliminated, confirmed Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat special forces, adding that Russian troops were now focusing on clearing settlements.

Ukraine launched a large-scale surprise offensive into the Kursk region on August 6.

"The first days we were busy stopping the enemy's main forces, and we succeeded. The enemy was completely stopped along the entire perimeter," Alaudinov said during an interview on Russian television on Tuesday.

The commander indicated that the destruction of major Ukrainian resources, including forward echelons, "inflicted very heavy damage on the enemy. They lost a lot of equipment, tanks, armored vehicles, and a lot of infantry."

"I think at the moment, we no longer have to worry that the enemy, no matter how many more resources he has, could pass through the area where we're situated," he affirmed.