Trump and Putin talks as destruction spans Russian and Ukrainian regions

As the Trump administration pushes Ukraine to agree to a rapid peace with Russia, Kursk represents the shrinking leverage Ukraine has over its vast neighbor.

KORENEVO, Russia — The carcass of a burned-out American military Humvee lies outside a hotel in this front-line town. This is where Ukraine’s forces were halted amid heavy fighting in August last year, locals tell NBC News. Since then, Russia's fight back bore fruit.

The destroyed vehicle is a drop in the ocean of the $66.5 billion in military aid that the U.S. has provided to Kyiv for its war effort. It’s also a sign of the high watermark of Ukraine’s audacious advance into western Russia in an attempt to win a bargaining chip in the eventual peace talks to end the war triggered by President Vladimir Putin's large-scale invasion in February 2022.

Now, as the Trump administration pushes Ukraine to agree to a rapid peace with Russia, and the Kremlin's troops peel back Kyiv's gains, Kursk represents the shrinking leverage Ukraine has over its vast neighbor.

A burned-out American Humvee in Korenevo. Natasha Lebedeva / NBC NewsThe U.S. special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin in Moscow last week, on Sunday suggested that the ceasefire discussions would likely involve territorial concessions from Ukraine, including over Kursk.

The snow-covered village of Korenevo, a half-hour drive from Rylsk, where in August Ukrainian troops fought the Russian forces after a surprise incursion, appeared to be mostly abandoned except for the presence of the military and a few residents.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ukraine-trump-putin-talks-russia-kursk-kharkiv-rcna196864

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