US President Donald Trump on Friday said he had “good, productive” talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid a push to get Russia to sign on to a US-backed ceasefire proposal in Ukraine.
“There is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump’s comments come after the Kremlin confirmed US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff left Moscow without an immediate agreement to cease fighting.
Putin publicly stalled on Thursday in agreeing to an interim 30-day ceasefire proposal brokered by the US, which would see a ceasefire and a pause in combat in Russia’s ongoing all-out invasion of Ukraine, including in the Black Sea and across the frontline.
Putin said that although the “idea” of a ceasefire was correct, there were many unanswered questions — highlighting the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukrainian troops launched a surprise incursion last year.
“Will all those (Ukrainian troops) who are there come out without a fight? Or will the Ukrainian leadership order them to lay down arms and surrender?” Putin asked on Thursday.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Putin of “deliberately” dragging out the peace process on Friday, reiterating several key elements of the deal set out by Ukraine and the US — including the return of prisoners and Ukrainian children forcibly transferred to Russia.
“Ukraine seeks peace and spares no effort to achieve it as soon as possible,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump also claimed in the same post on Truth Social that thousands of Ukrainian troops are “completely surrounded” by the Russian military, without providing evidence.
“I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared,” Trump said, apparently referring to Russia’s Kursk.
Ukraine’s General Staff pushed back on claims that troops were “encircled”, saying that reports of encirclement were “fabricated … for political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners.”
Ukraine’s troops had successfully regrouped, and the situation remained largely unchanged over the past few days, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
