'Frozen Frontline' Trump’s Immediate Peace Proposal Provokes Putin's Anxiety
There is an analysis that the fighting in the Kursk region, where North Korean troops have been deployed, will intensify following the news of former U.S. President Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election.
A video released by the Strategic Communication and Information Security Center (SPRAVDI) under the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy on the 18th of last month (local time), showing soldiers presumed to be North Korean lining up to receive Russian supplies. Photo by Yonhap News.
On the 8th (local time), foreign media reports indicate that Kursk, located on the border with Ukraine in mainland Russia, is one of the obstacles identified in Russia's efforts to lead peace negotiations.
Security experts generally agree that in Vladimir Putin's calculation for the invasion of Ukraine, any compromise on Russian territory was never even considered as a variable.
Amid this, there is speculation that Putin has started to become impatient following former President Trump's victory in the U.S. election on the 5th.
In particular, as recent reports have emerged about a peace plan being discussed among Trump's close associates, it is expected that Russia's anxiety has increased. The plan includes freezing the frontlines as they are, establishing a demilitarized zone, and pressuring Ukraine to suspend its efforts to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
If this plan materializes, Russia would maintain its occupation of 20% of Ukrainian territory but would have to relinquish Kursk, which was formerly Russian territory. President Putin initially aimed to drive Ukrainian forces out of Kursk by October 1 of this year but failed.
Accordingly, Forbes has assessed that Russia will launch the fastest and strongest possible offensive in Kursk, willing to endure any sacrifice, due to Trump's peace plan.
In fact, reports of clashes are steadily coming in. According to Forbes, the Russian 810th Naval Infantry Brigade, which appears to include North Korean troops, attacked Ukrainian positions west of Kursk on the 7th.
If the fighting between Ukraine and Russia intensifies in Kursk, there is also a possibility that the North Korean troops deployed in the area will be the first to be put at risk. The U.S. think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) pointed out in a report on the 5th, "It is highly likely that Russian forces will use North Korean troops as the first and foremost lever to repel Ukrainian forces in Kursk."
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