On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that he had called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to spare thousands of reportedly "completely surrounded" Ukrainian soldiers.
Posting on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump announced the details of a telephone call with Putin on Thursday, calling it "good and productive.
While Trump did not indicate the exact location of the Ukrainian forces, his comments seemed to refer to the current Russian advance in the Kursk area—a region inside Russian territory that was said to have been taken over by Ukraine. Putin had also gone to the region on the same day to review the military situation.
We had excellent and very productive talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, and there is a very great possibility that this terrible, brutal war can at last come to an end. BUT, AT THIS VERY MOMENT, THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS ARE ENTIRELY ENCLOSED BY THE RUSSIAN ARMY, AND IN A VERY POOR AND UNSECURE SITUATION," Trump wrote.
He said, "I have insisted strongly upon President Putin saving their lives. This would be a dreadful slaughter, not unlike World War II."
Ukraine's most senior military commander nevertheless rejected assertions their troops were being besieged at Kursk, and explained instead—following Reuters—those Ukrainian soldiers were redeploying to reinforce the defensive approach.
In the meanwhile, on the diplomatic side of things, Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow on Thursday to negotiate—the day Putin agreed provisionally to accept a ceasefire plan. The Kremlin leader said he was willing to accept a hiatus but insisted Ukraine should not be allowed to use the lull to regroup or be sent more military support.
The United States had originally called for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine accepted in negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The session involved U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Ukrainian officials.
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