Ukraine urged Washington to take “strong steps” to bring Russia to the negotiating table as US president Donald Trump hailed “very good and productive” talks with Moscow and repeated Kremlin claims about the battlefield situation that Kyiv’s military dismissed as “false and fabricated”.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy reiterated that his country was ready for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, after Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said he supported “the idea” of the US-proposed truce but warned that many “serious questions” had to be answered before he could agree to it.
“Putin cannot exit this war because that would leave him with nothing. That is why he is now doing everything he can to sabotage diplomacy by setting extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions right from the start, even before a ceasefire,” Mr Zelenskiy said on Friday.
“But we need peace. Real peace ... I strongly urge everyone who can influence Russia, especially the United States, to take strong steps that can help,” he added. “Putin will not end the war on his own. But the strength of America is enough to make it happen.”
Elsewhere, British prime minister Keir Starmer will host further talks on a peacekeeping force for Ukraine on Saturday after warning Mr Putin not to play games with a proposed ceasefire.
Mr Starmer is expected to hold a video call with as many as 25 potential members of the “coalition of the willing”, nations that could take part in any peacekeeping operation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were “grounds for cautious optimism” after US envoy Steve Witkoff met Mr Putin late on Thursday night in Moscow and was given unspecified “additional signals” to pass on to Mr Trump.
Mr Trump wrote on social media on Friday that the US “had very good and productive discussions” with Mr Putin “and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end”.
“BUT, AT THIS VERY MOMENT, THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIAN TROOPS ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY THE RUSSIAN MILITARY, AND IN A VERY BAD AND VULNERABLE POSITION. 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. God bless them all!!!” he added.
His portrayal of the supposed situation in the Kursk region of Russia echoed Mr Putin’s description a day earlier. Later on Friday, Mr Putin said that in response to Mr Trump’s request, the lives of Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region would be spared if they surrendered following an order from the “military-political leadership” in Kyiv.
Russian forces have now reclaimed most of the territory in Kursk region that Ukraine seized last summer, but Mr Zelenskiy said Mr Putin was “lying” about the battlefield situation and Kyiv’s military denied that its soldiers were surrounded.
“Reports of the alleged ‘encirclement’ of Ukrainian units by the enemy in the Kursk region are false and fabricated by the Russians for political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners,” the Ukrainian armed forces said.
“Units of the defence forces of Ukraine have successfully regrouped, withdrawn to more advantageous defensive positions, and are executing their assigned tasks within the Kursk region ... There is no threat of encirclement of our units.”
After fractious exchanges with erstwhile western allies since Mr Trump returned to the White House in January, the US joined other G7 states in reaffirming “unwavering support for Ukraine”, praising its readiness for a ceasefire and urging Moscow to reciprocate.
“We discussed imposing further costs on Russia in case such a ceasefire is not agreed, including through further sanctions, caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means,” the group said in a joint statement.
After the G7 meeting in Canada, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said he was “cautiously optimistic” about a possible ceasefire but warned that “a long journey” was still ahead to end Europe’s biggest war since 1945.
