Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Ukrainian troops in Kursk (Russian territory) to surrender after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian leader of trying to sabotage the ceasefire initiative.
US President Donald Trump has urged Putin to protect the lives of Ukrainian troops, saying his ambassador had “productive” talks with the Russian leader about a proposed 30-day ceasefire. Russia has been retaliating fiercely in the western border region of Kursk for the past week, recapturing most of the territory seized by Ukraine last August.
The defeat in Kursk would be a major setback to Ukraine’s plans to use its hold on the region as a key bargaining chip in peace talks to end its three-year war. “We sympathize with the call of US President Trump,” Putin said in a speech broadcast on Russian television.
Putin said, “If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and respectful treatment.” Trump has said that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are completely surrounded by Russian forces and are in a very bad and vulnerable condition.
‘Horrific massacre’
“I have strongly urged President Putin to protect their lives (Ukrainian troops on Russian soil). If Russia attacks them there, it will be a terrible massacre, the likes of which have not been seen since World War II,” he said. Ukraine’s military leadership has denied the allegations. The Ukrainian military general staff wrote on social media, “There is no threat of encirclement or any other threat to our units.”
Zelensky further assessed the situation in a brief conversation with journalists in Kiev, saying, “The situation in the Kursk region is certainly very difficult, but the campaign still has significance.” He said Russia had been forced to withdraw troops from other frontline areas, easing pressure on Ukrainian forces fighting to maintain control of Pokrovsk, the hub of the eastern military settlement.
US President Donald Trump has proposed a 30-day ceasefire between the US and Ukraine, in a statement released on Thursday, following a meeting between his ambassador, Steve Witkoff, and Putin.
“We had a very good and productive discussion yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and there is a very good chance that this terrible and bloody war will end,” Trump said on his investment social media platform, Truth Social Platforms.
