Trump Urges Putin to Spare Ukrainian Troops in Kursk

 In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, Russian soldiers patrol an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, Russian soldiers patrol an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
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Trump Urges Putin to Spare Ukrainian Troops in Kursk

 In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, Russian soldiers patrol an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, Russian soldiers patrol an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

US President Donald Trump urged Russia's Vladimir Putin on Friday to spare Ukrainian troops being pushed back out of Russia's Kursk region and said there was a "very good chance" the war could end.

Trump posted on social media after his envoy, Steve Witkoff, held a lengthy meeting with Putin on Thursday night in Moscow that Trump described as "very good and productive".

"There is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end," he said.

The US president said thousands of Ukrainian troops were "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!!!"

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.

Putin said on Friday that Russia will guarantee the safety of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region if they surrender.

Kyiv's military, however, said there was no threat of encirclement, and that its troops were pulling back to better positions.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at a G7 meeting in La Malbaie, Canada, said Witkoff is returning to the United States 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.

Moscow said on Friday that its forces had recaptured another village in their drive to dislodge Ukrainian forces from their last remaining footholds inside Russia's Kursk region.

The Kremlin said Putin had sent 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. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump himself had not spoken to Putin yet.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who met Trump on Thursday, told Fox News that Trump's drive to get Russia to spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers was "extremely helpful and extremely important."

The Trump administration launched its latest round of outreach to Moscow this week after Ukraine agreed in principle to a ceasefire at talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia.

TRUMP URGES PUTIN TO SIGN CEASEFIRE DEAL WITH UKRAINE

On Friday, Trump again pressed Russia to sign and complete "a Cease Fire and Final Agreement", saying on his private social media platform that he would extract the US from what he called a "real 'mess' with Russia".

Putin said on Thursday that he supported Trump's proposal in principle, but that fighting could not be paused until several crucial conditions were worked out, raising the prospect of longer negotiations.

Despite Putin's apparent conditions, Trump called Putin's statement "very promising".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Putin - who has expressed concern that Ukraine would exploit any truce to regroup - had used the late-night meeting with Witkoff to convey information and "signals" to Trump.

"There are certainly reasons to be cautiously optimistic," Peskov said. "(Putin) said that he supports President Trump's position in terms of a settlement, but he voiced some questions that need to be answered together".

Peskov said the timing of a phone call between the presidents would be worked out once Witkoff had briefed Trump.

Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO, Russia to control the entirety of the four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be limited.

He has also made clear he wants Western sanctions eased and a presidential election to be held in Ukraine, which Kyiv says is premature while martial law remains in force.

Peskov played down reports suggesting Russian officials had told US counterparts they did not want Trump's Russia-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg to be involved in top-level discussions on the war. He said Moscow had no intention of meddling.



At Least 11 Dead after Security Operations Against Militants in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
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At Least 11 Dead after Security Operations Against Militants in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER

Pakistan's security forces raided two militant hideouts in the country’s restive northwest on Saturday, triggering gun battles that left at least two soldiers and nine militants dead, the military said in a statement.
The raids were conducted in the Mohmand and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, The Associated Press reported.
According to local police officials, the insurgents were Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
The outlawed TTP is a separate group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of a withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.
Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries and have even been living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.
In a separate incident on Saturday, insurgents ambushed security forces in the northwestern Kurram district of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, local police said. However, authorities have yet to confirm any troop casualties.
Pakistan's military is currently engaged in an ongoing operation in Kurram, an area that has witnessed years of sectarian violence. Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between heavily armed factions, exacerbating tensions in the region.
Since November, Kurram has remained isolated after authorities blocked key roads following sectarian violence. The closure has led to severe shortages of medicine and food, further deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Also on Saturday, a bomb exploded outside a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing cleric Mufti Shakir, local police said. It was unclear who was behind the attack and an investigation is continuing.