Since Trump’s election victory, his team has not outlined a peace proposal to Ukraine’s leadership, according to two sources close to Ukraine’s government and a former U.S. diplomat.

What’s old is new again as Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds toward its fourth year. During World War II, some armies—the British Army, in particular—bolted metal spans to the top of tank chassis and used the resulting “funnies” to rapidly erect bridges across vehicle-halting gaps on the battlefield.

Both Russia and Ukraine suffer heavy casualties in the battles in Kursk, with questions about their abilities to sustain the war.

Since the new push in Russia’s Kursk Oblast in early January, Ukraine has made small gains and managed to capture the first North Korean prisoners of war in the area but experts have raised concerns about Kyiv’s use of limited resources while fierce battles rage elsewhere.

Ukraine is leaning into its efforts to hold onto the Russian territory of Kursk amid intense pressure from Russian and North Korean forces to take it back, apparently gambling that the region could be a valuable card in potential negotiations with Moscow.

Ukraine's fresh offensive in Kursk comes nearly six months after Kyiv first sent troops into the western Russian region.

The surprise attack seeks to reverse Ukraine’s decreasing hold of the region. Since Kyiv’s forces gained partial control of Kursk following a daring cross-border assault last August, Russian troops, aided by North Korean soldiers, have halved the territory held by Ukraine, albeit while suffering thousands of casualties.

Ukraine launches a new offensive in Russia's Kursk region, raising questions about its strategic goals and potential impact on the war's trajectory and upcoming peace talks.