It’s been six months since Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region and its forces are still in control of a big chunk of the ceased territory – and as calls for peace negotiations grow louder,

That will take some doing. Putin remains uninterested in peace talks as long as Russian troops continue to gain ground in Ukraine’s east, albeit at a slow pace, and while Ukrainian forces hold seized territory in the Kursk region inside Russia, according to John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and other former officials.