By Steve Holland, Dmitry Antonov and Andrew Osborn
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump urged Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin on Friday to spare Ukrainian troops that Russia is pushing out of its Kursk region, an appeal Putin said he would honor if they surrendered.
Trump posted on social media after his envoy, Steve Witkoff, held a lengthy meeting with Putin on Thursday night in Moscow that Trump described as “very good and productive”.
“There is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Trump said, referring to a U.S. ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted this week and was under consideration by Russia.
The U.S. president said Russia’s military had “completely surrounded” thousands of Ukrainian troops in Kursk who were “in a very bad and vulnerable position”.
“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. God bless them all!!!”
Military analysts have said Ukrainian forces in Kursk are nearly cut off after rapidly losing ground in what had been their only foothold in Russian territory.
Putin has accused Ukrainian troops of carrying out crimes against civilians in Kursk, something Kyiv denies. But the Russian president said he understood the call by Trump to take humanitarian considerations into account.
“In this regard, I would like to emphasize 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.
The deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, former President Dmitry Medvedev, posted on social media that if Ukrainian troops “refuse to lay down their arms, they will all be methodically and mercilessly destroyed.”
Kyiv’s military, however, said there was no threat of encirclement, and its troops were pulling back to better positions.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at a G7 meeting in La Malbaie, Canada, said Witkoff was returning to the United States from Moscow and there may be discussions about Ukraine over the weekend.
“But we certainly feel like we’re at least some steps closer to ending this war and bringing peace. But it’s still a long journey,” he told reporters.
KYIV DENIES ANY KURSK ROUT
Kursk became a key theatre of the war in August when Ukraine, 2-1/2 years after Putin’s full-scale invasion, turned the tables by grabbing a piece of Russia’s own territory, a potential bargaining chip in future negotiations.
Seven months on, Kursk is once again in the spotlight, as Russian forces attempt to expel the Ukrainians completely and the U.S. urges Russia to agree to a ceasefire in the wider war.
Moscow said on Friday its forces had recaptured another Kursk village. But Ukraine’s general staff said the battlefield situation was largely unchanged.
“Reports of the alleged ‘encirclement’ of Ukrainian units by the enemy in Kursk are false and fabricated by the Russians for political manipulation,” it said, adding that units had “withdrawn to more advantageous defensive positions.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told reporters that the Kursk offensive had succeeded in diverting Russian forces from elsewhere on the battlefront.
Zelenskiy added that he saw “a good chance” to end the war, having “solid security understandings” with European partners.
He said he was discussing with Kyiv’s allies future security guarantees and also economic support, adding that 100% air defence cover would be required as deterrence in a peace deal.
The Kremlin said Putin sent Trump a message about his ceasefire plan via Witkoff, expressing “cautious optimism” that a deal could be reached to end the three-year-old conflict.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who met Trump on Thursday, told Fox News that Trump’s drive to get Russia to spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers was “extremely helpful and extremely important.”
But he said NATO needed long-term collective deterrence so that Russia would never again seek to capture territory anywhere in the world.
The Trump administration launched its latest round of outreach to Moscow this week after Ukraine agreed in principle to a ceasefire at talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia.
TRUMP URGES PUTIN TO SIGN CEASEFIRE DEAL
On Friday, Trump again pressed Russia to sign and complete “a Cease Fire and Final Agreement”.
Putin said on Thursday he supported Trump’s proposal in principle, but fighting could not be paused until several crucial conditions were worked out, raising the prospect of longer negotiations.
Despite Putin’s apparent conditions, Trump called Putin’s statement “very promising”.
Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO and limit the size of its army. Russia also wants Ukraine to cede control of four regions Moscow claims, a demand rejected by Kyiv.
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.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov in Moscow and Daphne Psaledakis in La Malbaie, Canada; Writing by Andrew Osborn in London and Michael Martina in Washington; Editing by Gareth Jones, Kevin Liffey, Peter Graff and Cynthia Osterman)
