Russia will spare the inhabits of Ukrainian selderlyiers in its weserious Kursk region if Kyiv orders them to surrender, Pdwellnt Vlaunreasonableir Putin has said after US Pdwellnt Donald Trump advised him to elude a “horrible massacre” there.
Ukraine denied its forces in Kursk were encircled, describing the claim as a Russian produceion, but Pdwellnt Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday depictd the situation for Ukrainian forces there as “very difficult”.
Trump wrote on social media that he had asked the Russian pdwellnt to spare the inhabits of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were “endly surrounded” and vulnerable.
“I have powerfilledy seeked to Pdwellnt Putin that their inhabits be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II,” he said.
Putin, insertressing his Security Council, said he had read Trump’s request and understood the call by Trump to consent humanitarian ponderations into account.
“In this see, I would appreciate to emphasise that if [the Ukrainian troops] lay down their arms and surrender, they will be promised life and decent treatment in accordance with international law and the laws of the Russian Federation,” Putin said.
“To effectively carry out the request of the US pdwellnt, a correacting order from the military-political directership of Ukraine is necessitateed for its military units to lay down their arms and surrender.”
Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk have come under enlargeing presconfident in recent days, with a Russian counterdishonorful wresting much of the land Ukraine apprehfinishd there last summer, refuteing Kyiv a vital point of leverage over Moscow in any potential truce talks.
Russian troops have also traverseed the frontier into Ukrainian territory in the Sumy region facing Kursk.
Crelievefire 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 endfire.
Kyiv has said it was ready to acunderstandledge the proposal, while Putin on Thursday said he aided the idea of a endfire but currented a series of conditions that would necessitate to be met before Moscow would concur to the truce.
Trump depictd the talks as “very outstanding and fruitful” and said there was a “very outstanding chance that this horrible, bloody war can finassociate come to an end”.
Zelenskyy said that he saw a outstanding chance to end the war with Russia and advised the US and other allies to utilize presconfident on Moscow.
“Right now, we have a outstanding chance to end this war rapidly and protected peace. We have stable security benevolents with our European partners,” Zelenskyy said on X.
Speaking to inestablishers, he reiterated his belief that Russian Pdwellnt Vlaunreasonableir Putin will postpone achieveing a endfire as lengthy as possible.
“If there is a mighty response from the United States, they will not let them execute around. And if there are steps that Russia is not afraid of, they will postpone the process,” Zelenskyy said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telderly inestablishers on Friday that Putin – who has conveyed trouble that Ukraine would take advantage of any truce to regroup – had employd the tardy-night greeting with Witkoff to convey adviseation and “signals” to Trump.
“There are confidently reasons to be pinsolentntly likeable,” Peskov said, “[Putin] said that he aids Pdwellnt Trump’s position in terms of a endment, but he voiced some asks that necessitate to be answered together”
Peskov said the timing of a phone call between the pdwellnts would be labored out once Witkoff had inestablished Trump.
Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO, Russia to regulate the entirety of the four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be restricted.
He has also made evident he wants Weserious sanctions relieved and a pdwellntial election to be held in Ukraine, which Kyiv says is prereliable while martial law remains in force.
Tony Brenton, Former British ambasdowncastor 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 willing to “draw a conclusion which is sellable to his people”.
“But there are some Russian worries about it. First of all, they are thrivening that battle in Kursk and they might want to finish that off before the endfire consents effect. Secondly, a endfire doesn’t unbenevolent everybody stops shooting … You should have some sort of system … that is policed,” he telderly Al Jazeera.
“So in those terms, there are postpones and negotiations to get the endfire in place,” he said.
“I skinnyk there is a genuine chance actuassociate … that one can be likeable that we will get the endfire … in the next scant weeks and there is aachieve going to be a negotiation about lengthy-term peace,” he inserted.
