Russia will save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in the western Kursk region if Kiev orders them to surrender after President Donald Trump urges him to avoid a “terrifying massacre.”
Ukraine denied that Kursk’s troops were surrounded and described the claim as Russian production, but President Voldymir Zelensky on Friday said the situation for Ukrainian forces was “very difficult.”
Trump wrote on social media that he asked the Russian president to save the lives of thousands of Ukrainians whom he said were “completely surrounded and vulnerable.”
“I urged Putin to escape their lives. This is a horrifying massacre, something that hasn’t been seen since World War II,” he said.
Speaking to his Security Council, Putin said he read Trump’s appeal and understood Trump’s call to take humanitarian considerations into consideration.
“In this respect, I would like to emphasize that. [the Ukrainian troops] Put their arms down and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and decent treatment in accordance with international law and the laws of the Russian Federation,” Putin said.
“To effectively implement the US President’s appeal, a corresponding order from the military political leader in Ukraine is required for military units to place their weapons and surrender.”
The Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk recently denied Kiev the key point of leverage against Moscow in potential ceasefire talks in Russia’s anti-aggressive Resting, which was arrested last summer for Russia’s anti-aggressive Resting.
The Russian troops also crossed the frontier of the Smie region, which Kursk faces, to Ukrainian territory.
Cerez-fire meeting
Trump’s comments came after his Middle Eastern envoy, Steve Witkov, spoke to Putin on Thursday in Moscow about the US proposal for a 30-day interim ceasefire.
Kiev said he was ready to accept the proposal, and Putin supported the idea of a ceasefire on Thursday, but said he had presented a set of conditions that Moscow must meet before agreeing to a ceasefire.
Trump described the talks as “very well productive,” saying “it’s very likely that this horrible, bloody war will eventually end.”
Zelensky said he saw a good opportunity to end the war with Russia and urged the US and other allies to put pressure on Moscow.
“Now we have a good opportunity to quickly end this war and ensure peace. We have a solid understanding of security with our European partners,” Zelenskyy said in X.
Speaking to reporters, he reiterated his belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin would delay reaching a ceasefire as much as possible.
“If there’s a strong response from the US, they won’t let them play, and if there are steps that Russia isn’t afraid of, they’ll slow the process,” Zelensky said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Putin, who is concerned about Ukraine’s reorganization of the ceasefire, used a late-night meeting with Witkov to communicate information and to Trump.
“There’s certainly a reason to be careful and optimistic,” Peskov said.[Putin] He supports President Trump’s position from a reconciliation perspective, but he has expressed some questions that need to be answered together.”
Peskov said the timing of the phone calls between the presidents would be resolved after Witkov explained to Trump.
Putin said he hopes to withdraw his ambition to join Russia’s NATO and control the entire four regions of Ukraine that it claims in itself, as well as the limited size of the Ukrainian military.
He also made it clear that he hopes Western sanctions will be eased and that presidential elections will take place in Ukraine. This says it is premature while martial law continues.
Tony Brenton, former British ambassador to Russia, said the war in Ukraine began miserably for the Russians, and also cost the Kremlin a lot, with Putin eager to “draw a conclusion that would be sold to his people.”
“But there are some Russian concerns about it. First of all, they have won that fight in Kursk and may want to finish it before the ceasefire takes effect. Secondly, a ceasefire doesn’t mean that everyone will stop shooting… you should have some kind of system… it’s being policed,” he told Al Jazeera.
“So there are delays and negotiations to put the ceasefire into place,” he said.
“I think there’s actually a real opportunity… I think we could be optimistic about getting a ceasefire. In the coming weeks, negotiations will occur again on long-term peace,” he added.
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