Putin says he will spare Ukrainian troops in Kursk after Trump's plea

(CLO) Russia will spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in the western Kursk region if Kiev tells them to surrender, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday after a plea from US President Donald Trump.

In a tweet, President Trump said he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were “totally surrounded” and vulnerable. “I have asked President Putin to spare their lives. This would be a horrendous massacre, the likes of which have not been seen since World War II,” he said.

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Donald Trump's Truth Social post pleading with the Russian military to spare the lives of the besieged Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk reads: " We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this bloody, horrible war can finally be brought to an end — BUT, AT THIS MOMENT, THOUSANDS OF UKRAINE SOLDIERS ARE TOTALLY SURROUNDED BY THE RUSSIAN ARMY, AND IN VERY BAD AND VULNERABLE CONDITION. I have made an urgent request to President Putin to spare their lives. This will be a horrendous massacre, the likes of which have not been seen since World War II. God bless them all!!! "

Mr Putin, speaking to the Russian Security Council, said he had read Mr Trump's appeal, adding that he understood the US president's call to take humanitarian considerations into account.

"In this regard, I would like to stress that if (Ukrainian troops) lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed their lives and treated decently in accordance with international law and the laws of the Russian Federation," Putin said.

“In order to effectively implement the call of the President of the United States, there must be a corresponding order from the military- political leadership of Ukraine for the military units to lay down their arms and surrender,” he said earlier on Thursday, saying that Ukrainian soldiers were trapped and faced with the choice of “surrender or death.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Ruptly/TASS

However, in the face of the above developments and information, Ukraine still denies that its soldiers are surrounded, saying it is a "Russian fabrication", but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted that the situation is "very difficult". The Ukrainian General Staff also said on Friday: "Reports about the alleged 'encirclement' of Ukrainian units by the enemy in the Kursk region are false".

Ukraine sent troops to attack Russia's Kursk Region and occupied part of the territory last August with the aim of creating leverage in future negotiations.

However, analysts say this was a wrong move by Kiev. This occupation has further stretched Ukraine's already under-strength army along a frontline of more than 1,000 km, leading to successive breaches and captures on key fronts in the east of the country.

Russian forces (shown in red and white areas) are said to have surrounded and blocked the retreat of Ukrainian troops (in yellow) in the Kursk Region.

Meanwhile, Russia is considered to have had a reasonable strategy when it did not quickly push Ukrainian forces out of Kursk, instead only maintaining a moderate fight to continue to attract Kiev's resources to this front.

In particular, only when the recent peace negotiations began to take shape did Russian forces intensify their offensive, but instead of driving the enemy troops back into Ukraine, they instead resorted to encirclement tactics, in order to gain another important card on the negotiating table. If all these calculations were to come true, it would make Kiev’s Kursk offensive a failure on all fronts.

Still, President Zelenskyy defended his strategy, telling reporters that the Kursk offensive had succeeded in diverting Russian forces from other parts of the front. "I can only thank our fighters for the Kursk operation. I believe it has accomplished its mission," he said.

Hoang Huy (according to TASS, Truth Social, Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tong-thong-putin-noi-se-tha-cho-quan-doi-ukraine-o-kursk-sau-loi-cau-khan-cua-ong-trump-post338593.html