Russia 'will not talk' to Ukraine given Kursk incursion: Kremlin aide

Kyiv sent troops over the border on August 6, and has since held onto a part of the Kursk region, going on the attack in an offensive that has rattled Moscow.

"At the current stage, given this escapade, we will not talk," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told the Russian Shot Telegram channel, adding that "at the moment it would be completely inappropriate to enter into a negotiating process".

Asked when possible talks could begin between the two sides, he said: "I don't know, everything depends on the situation on the battlefield, including in the Kursk region."

Ukraine's operation, planned in utter secrecy, is an unprecedented incursion onto Russian soil and the biggest attack since Moscow launched the full-scale conflict in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the operation was aimed at putting "more pressure" on Russia in order to bring peace "closer".