Kiev: Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Musko’s troops to push for a lossy stance, while Kyiv warned that the Kremlin was using the battle to strengthen its position before a ceasefire dialogue, thus urging Ukrainian troops to surrender.
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Putin to say his envoy held “productive” talks with Russian leaders during a proposed 30-day ceasefire to save the lives of Ukrainian troops.
Over the past week, Russia has quickly fought back in the western Kursk border area, recapturing much of Ukraine last August, which was occupied by an impact.
The defeat in Kursk would be a major blow to Ukraine’s plan to use its plans in the region as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations for the three-year-old war.
“We sympathize with President Trump’s call,” Putin said in a speech aired on Russian TV.
“If they put down their arms and surrender, they will be treated with guaranteed life and dignity,” Putin said.
Trump said that “thousands of Ukrainian troops” were “completely surrounded by Russian troops and in a very bad and vulnerable position”.
“The Terrible Holocaust”
“I strongly demand that President Putin survive.
Ukraine’s military leaders denied this claim. “Our unit is not threatened by siege,” Ukraine’s General Staff announced on social media.
Zelensky gave a more sober assessment of the journalists in Kiev in his comments. “The situation in the Kursk region is obviously difficult,” he said, insisting that the campaign remains valuable.
He said Russia was forced to pull troops from other areas on the front line, reducing pressure on the Ukrainian army to maintain control of the logistics center in eastern Pokrovsk.
Trump’s latest comment comes as he made a latest news Thursday at a meeting in which his envoys Steve Witkoff and Putin proposed a 30-day pause in hostilities.
“Yesterday we had a very good and productive discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and this terrible, bloody war is likely to finally end,” Trump said on his truth social platform.
Ukraine loses grip
Putin said on Thursday he had “serious problems” with the proposal and that the incident in Kursk would affect the next ceasefire.
Zelensky accused Russian leaders of seeking to undermine the ceasefire initiative.
Zelensky released Zelensky on X. “He is doing everything he can now to set extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions from the outset to undermine diplomacy.”
The Kremlin said on Friday that “cautious optimism” could be reached, but that Trump and Putin must speak directly in the negotiations.
US national security adviser Mike Waltz said in an interview with Fox News that the United States had “cautious optimism” about the United States after Witkoff’s visit.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a meeting of Canada’s seven Western Power Groups that both sides must make “concessions”.
The G7 foreign minister warned Russia of new sanctions that unless it accepts a “equal level” ceasefire, sanctions could include “oil price caps and additional support for Ukraine and other means”.
France and Germany accused Russia of trying to stop the ceasefire, and support for Ukraine will be discussed again in a video conference with some of Zelensky’s European leaders on Saturday.
Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas will propose that the group supply of up to 40 billion euros (£34 billion) in the 27 countries will provide new military aid to Ukraine, diplomatic sources said.
Ukraine hopes it will bargain with Kursk holders in negotiations with Russia and is focusing on potential land swaps with Moscow, which accounts for one-fifth of Ukraine since it launched Crimea in February 2014 in February 2022.
