Ukraine's Kursk Oblast operation 'creates real dilemma' for Putin, says Biden

Ukraine's operation in Kursk Oblast "creates a real dilemma" for Russian  dictator Vladimir Putin and US officials are constantly communicating with the Ukrainian side about it, said the President of the United States, Joe Biden, Reuters reports.

Biden told reporters that over the past six to eight days, he had been informed about Ukraine's actions every four to five hours.

"This has created a real dilemma for Putin," the US president said. It is not specified what exactly he meant.

These are the first substantive comments of the American leader regarding the Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast.

On August 7, on the second day of the operation, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, announced that the USA would ask Kyiv for an explanation of what is happening on the border of Ukraine with Russia's Kursk Oblast.

Subsequently, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the United States is in contact with Ukraine regarding the events in Kursk Oblast and that Kyiv did not warn Washington about any operations on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Already on August 8, Pentagon's deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh, reported that the hostilities in Kursk Oblast are consistent with the US policy regarding how Ukraine can use the weapons received from them.

The Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast began on August 6, but the Ukrainian authorities did not officially comment on it for almost a week.

On August 12, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially acknowledged the operation. The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that as of August 13, Ukraine controls 74 settlements in Kursk Oblast. The president reported on hundreds of Russian prisoners taken there.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that Ukraine is not interested in seizing the territory of Russia's Kursk Oblast. The purpose of the operation is to preserve the lives of Ukrainians and protect the territory from attacks from Russia.