KYZYL, September 2. /TASS/. Russia's opponents may go for negotiations after the failure of the Ukrainian provocation in the Kursk Region, President Vladimir Putin said.

According to him, the Ukrainian provocation is doomed to failure, and after it, Russia's opponents "will have a desire to really - not in words, but in deeds - to move to peaceful negotiations and settle these issues peacefully."

"We have never given up on this," the Russian leader said during a meeting with schoolchildren on the occassion of Knowledge Day.

"I have always said that we want to solve all controversial issues by peaceful means," the president pointed out.

He recalled that "the hot phase began when our enemy threw out all agreements related to the possibility of a peaceful settlement in Donbass." "They announced that they would not fulfill the so-called Minsk agreements, when we agreed on how to further develop relations with Ukraine and within Ukraine with those people who do not lose ties with Russia," Putin pointed out. "No, they threw away all these agreements and began preparations for military operations, which they have already repeatedly conducted on the territory of Donbass," the head of state recalled.

"We essentially began to protect our people who live on this territory. But nevertheless, we have always been in favor of a peaceful settlement," the Russian leader emphasized.