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Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 14, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP
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After U.S. President Donald Trump urged Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin on Friday (March 14, 2025) to spare Ukrainian troops that Russia is pushing out of its Kursk region, Mr. Putin said he would honour the appeal if they surrendered.
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.
Mr. 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 Mr. 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,” Mr. 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 U.S. envoy Steve 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 Zelenskyy told reporters that the Kursk offensive had succeeded in diverting Russian forces from elsewhere on the battlefront.
Mr. Zelenskyy 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 Mr. Putin sent Mr. 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 Mr. Trump on Thursday, told Fox News that Mr. 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.
Published – March 15, 2025 07:04 am IST
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Putin says he will let Ukraine troops in Kursk live if they surrender after Trump’s request
