Illusion of Russia's red lines crumbled somewhere near Sudzha - Zelenskyy

According to him, if most countries in the world had heard about Ukraine's plans to carry out an operation in the Kursk region a few months ago, they would have said it was crossing the "reddest" of all Russia's red lines.

Therefore, as Zelenskyy added, no one heard about Ukraine's preparations for such actions. Now, the success of Ukrainian forces speaks for itself: the inability of Russian President Vladimir Putin to defend his territory speaks for itself.

The President emphasized that proactive and preventive defense of Ukraine is the most effective countermeasure against Russian terror.

"We are witnessing a highly significant ideological change: the naive, illusory concept of so-called red lines regarding Russia, which dominated some partners' assessments of the war, has crumbled in recent days somewhere near Sudzha," he added.

Zelenskyy stressed that in this war, "everything depends on the courage" of both Ukraine and its partners.

"It is crucial for our partners to be in sync with us in this determination, and then Russia will have no choice but to accept a just peace," the head of state noted.

Background

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's partners have expressed concerns about escalating the war with Russia. These concerns were often cited as reasons for their hesitation in providing certain types of military aid.

In particular, for a long time, the partners were reluctant to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighters and long-range missiles, as such weapons would allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to attack Russian territory.

In some partner countries, the fear of crossing Russia’s "red lines" persists even now. This is particularly evident with Germany, which has been refusing to supply Ukraine with Taurus long-range missiles for over a year.

As Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stated, he is concerned about the "misuse" of these missiles, specifically potential strikes on targets in Moscow.