Russian President Vladimir Putin is urging Ukraine to surrender its position in the Kursk region of Russia in order to “effectively implement” President Donald Trump’s call to “spare” the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, Russia-owned news outlet TASS reported Friday.
Putin made the demand during an operational meeting of the Security Council of Russia, according to TASS. He was responding to Trump’s social media post earlier in the day, asking Putin to refrain from killing Ukrainian troops he said have been surrounded in the region.
Ukrainian forces took control of about 100 settlements in a surprise incursion into Russia last August. However, Russia recaptured 28 settlements in its western Kursk region in a counteroffensive the past week and took control of the village of Noven'ke in Ukraine's adjacent Sumy region, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.
"In order to effectively implement the call of the U.S. president, an appropriate order is needed from the military and political leadership of Ukraine to its military units to lay down their weapons and surrender," Putin said, TASS reported.
“We are sympathetic to President Trump’s call,” Putin said in a televised address, DailyMail.com reported. “If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment.”
Earlier Friday, Trump said in a post to Truth Social that “thousands of Ukrainian troops are completely surrounded ... and in a very bad and vulnerable position.” He added, "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.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation in Kursk was “very difficult” but denied that his military forces were surrounded, according to DailyMail.com.
Putin said Thursday that he agreed in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but the terms needed to be worked out, and he emphasized that it should pave the way to lasting peace.
"We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Trump said in the post.
However, Zelenskyy on Thursday warned that Putin will drag out a deal for a ceasefire because he is not interested in peace. Zelenskyy added that Putin has demanded so many preconditions that "nothing will work out at all, or that it will not work out for as long as possible."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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