Russia will spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region if Kyiv orders them to surrender, President Vladimir Putin has said after US President Donald Trump urged him to avoid a “horrible massacre” there.
Ukraine denied its forces in Kursk were encircled, describing the claim as a Russian fabrication, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday described the situation for Ukrainian forces there as “very difficult”.
Trump wrote on social media that he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were “completely surrounded” and vulnerable.
“I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II,” he said.
Putin, addressing his Security Council, said he had read Trump’s appeal and understood the call by Trump to take humanitarian considerations into account.
“In this regard, I would like to emphasise that if [the Ukrainian troops] lay down their arms 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 appeal of the US president, a corresponding order from the military-political leadership of Ukraine is needed for its military units to lay down their arms and surrender.”
Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk have come under growing pressure in recent days, with a Russian counteroffensive wresting much of the land Ukraine captured there last summer, denying Kyiv a vital point of leverage over Moscow in any potential truce talks.
Russian troops have also crossed the frontier into Ukrainian territory in the Sumy region facing Kursk.
Ceasefire talks
Trump’s comments come after his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff spoke to Putin in Moscow on Thursday about a US proposal for a 30-day interim ceasefire.
Kyiv has said it was ready to accept the proposal, while Putin on Thursday said he supported the idea of a ceasefire but presented a series of conditions that would need to be met before Moscow would agree to the truce.
Trump described the talks as “very good and productive” and said there was a “very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end”.
Zelenskyy said that he saw a good chance to end the war with Russia and urged the US and other allies to apply pressure on Moscow.
“Right now, we have a good chance to end this war quickly and secure peace. We have solid security understandings with our European partners,” Zelenskyy said on X.
Speaking to reporters, he reiterated his belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin will delay reaching a ceasefire as long as possible.
“If there is a strong response from the United States, they will not let them play around. And if there are steps that Russia is not afraid of, they will delay the process,” Zelenskyy said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Putin – who has expressed concern that Ukraine would exploit any truce to regroup – had used the late-night meeting with Witkoff to convey information and “signals” to Trump.
“There are certainly reasons to be cautiously optimistic,” Peskov said, “[Putin] said that he supports President Trump’s position in terms of a settlement, but he voiced some questions that need to be answered together”
Peskov said the timing of a phone call between the presidents would be worked out once Witkoff had briefed Trump.
Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO, Russia to control the entirety of the four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be limited.
He has also made clear he wants Western sanctions eased and a presidential election to be held in Ukraine, which Kyiv says is premature while martial law remains in force.
Tony Brenton, Former British ambassador to Russia said that the war in Ukraine began disastrously for the Russians and has also cost the Kremlin a lot of money, leaving Putin keen to “draw a conclusion which is sellable to his people”.
“But there are some Russian worries about it. First of all, they are winning that battle in Kursk and they might want to finish that off before the ceasefire takes effect. Secondly, a ceasefire doesn’t mean everybody stops shooting … You should have some sort of system … that is policed,” he told Al Jazeera.
“So in those terms, there are delays and negotiations to get the ceasefire in place,” he said.
“I think there is a real chance actually … that one can be optimistic that we will get the ceasefire … in the next few weeks and there is again going to be a negotiation about long-term peace,” he added.