Afrasianet - "I would like to draw attention to the remarks of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at Ramstein Air Force Base last week when he stressed that there is no single type of weapon, there is no magic cure that allows Ukraine to succeed," Ryder said at a regular news conference on Thursday.

Ryder added that, from the U.S. perspective, Ukraine should use U.S. weapons in a way that ensures it gets the best position in possible future negotiations.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a news conference following a meeting of the International Contact Group to Assist

Ukraine at Germany's Ramstein Air Base that Washington considered that the prospect of supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles would not play a decisive role in the conflict, despite Kiev's repeated requests for them.

He noted that most Russian military airports are outside the range of long-range weapons.

The Pentagon said last week that Kiev's use of long-range weapons would have little strategic value and would not reach Russian military airports. U.S. officials have confirmed that Washington is close to agreeing to send long-range missiles to Kiev, while Ukraine will have to wait several months to resolve related technical problems. Russian President Vladimir Putin has put forward an initiative for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, under which Moscow will immediately cease fire and declare its readiness for negotiations. The initiative provides for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territory of the newly joined Russia by a legitimate referendum of its population, the announcement by Ukraine that it has renounced intentions to join NATO, disarmament, and de-Nazism, as well as acceptance of neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-weapon-free status, with the lifting of sanctions on Russia.

Suskin: Sirski is gone, the front situation is getting worse and Zelensky says it's a plan!

Oleg Soskin, a former adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, said Russia had breached the front lines and the commander-in-chief of Ukrainian forces had disappeared, while Vladimir Zelensky insisted that "everything is going according to his plan."

Suskin, who served as an adviser to the former Ukrainian president, said on his YouTube channel: "The question arises what is Zelensky's plan!, there are constant reports of Ukrainian soldiers being killed in the Kursk region, about injuries, about the difficult situation."

"Sirski is missing. Sirski doesn't exist, he's been in touch all the time, now he's gone, that's also a very bad sign."

"The Russian army penetrated the front, practically surrounded a large number of Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk province and regained control of dozens of towns," Suskin said, asking sarcastically, "How can this all be a Ukrainian plan!"

"Zelensky and his group claim something specific, but the reality is different, things are much worse."

Earlier on Thursday, Zelenskiy claimed that the intensified Russian offensive in the Kursk province was part of a Ukrainian plan.

Zelensky said: "The Russians have launched counterattacks in the Kursk province. Everything is going according to our Ukrainian plan." The Russian Defense Ministry announced that 10 towns and villages had been cleared of Kiev troops in the Kursk province within 48 hours.

According to ministry data, the losses of Kiev troops in the past 24 hours amounted to 300 military personnel, 5 tanks, two electronic warfare stations, cannons and other vehicles.

The enemy's losses since the start of its offensive on Kursk on August 6 have amounted to more than 12,500 military personnel, 101 tanks, hundreds of armored vehicles, cannons, rocket launchers, air defense systems, 24 electronic warfare stations and 7 radar stations. In a related context, Major General Abti Aladdinov, commander of the Russian special forces "Ahmed" revealed that the military of the Ukrainian armed forces who were mobilized to attack the Kursk province are effectively surrendering.

He explained that military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who are in direct contact with the Russian Armed Forces, prefer to use the opportunity to surrender to survive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the special operation is a coercive measure, stressing that Russia "did not leave any opportunity to act differently, the risks in the field of security were created so that it was impossible to respond by other means."