Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukraine had accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States, following critical peace talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.

The ball is now in Russia’s court. But Russia excels at grabbing the ball, pocketing it and debating the rules of the game before claiming the ball has in fact been stolen clean from them by the other team.

The U.S. looks to secure a peace deal by forcing Ukraine and Russia to make concessions to end the war, but experts warn Putin has no interest in ending his fight or establishing peace.

Russia said on Tuesday that its troops had retaken over 100 square kilometres (38.6 square miles) of territory and 12 settlements in its Kursk region as part of an offensive to force the Ukrainian army to flee from western Russia.

Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov (R) inspects troops involved in Russia-Ukraine conflict, in a location given as Kursk Region, Russia, in this still image taken from video released.

A Russian offensive supported by North Korean troops in the past few days has made a serious advance in Russia's Kursk region northeast of Ukraine, breaking through Ukrainian positions and forcing them to withdraw to new defense lines,