After Trump's Request, Russia President Putin To Spare The Lives Of Ukrainian Troops In Kursk

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he will spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region if Kyiv orders them to surrender. It comes after US President Donald Trump urged the Kremlin to avoid a "horrible massacre".

What Putin Said?

Speaking at his Security Council, Putin stated that he had come across the US President's appeal and understood the need to take humanitarian considerations into account.

"In this regard, I would like to emphasise 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," ALjazeera quoted Putin as saying.

"To effectively implement the appeal of the US president, a corresponding order from the military-political leadership of Ukraine is needed for its military units to lay down their arms and surrender."

Trump Urges Putin To Spare Lives

Donald Trump had appealed to Putin on his social media page to spare the lives of the Ukraine troops. "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," he said.

However, Ukraine has denied the claims that Kyiv's troops have been encircled and accused it as a Russian fabrication. "There is no threat of our units being encircled," Ukraine's General Staff wrote in a social media post.

Ukraine denied its forces in Kursk were encircled, describing the claim as a Russian fabrication, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday described the situation for Ukrainian forces there as "very difficult".

Trump wrote on social media that he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were "completely surrounded" and vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the US has come up with a 30-day interim ceasefire.

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 ceasefire. Ukraine has expressed its willingness to accept it, Russia too has accepted the proposal but set a series of conditions that would need to be met before Moscow would agree to the ceasefire.