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.



Iran Opposition Leader Karroubi to be Freed from House Arrest, His Son Says

Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo
Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo
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Iran Opposition Leader Karroubi to be Freed from House Arrest, His Son Says

Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo
Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo

Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi will be released from house arrest on Monday, state media reported, 14 years after he was detained for calling for a rally in support of protests that swept the Arab world in 2011.

"My father was told by security agents that his house arrest will end today," his son Hossein Karroubi told state news agency IRNA, adding that security agents would remain at the premises until April 8 due to security concerns.

The 87-year-old, ailing mid-level cleric has remained defiant, questioning the legitimacy of the clerical establishment in statements published by pro-reform websites.

After calling for a rally in solidarity with pro-democracy uprisings, Karroubi - along with ex-prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, a prominent academic - were put under house arrest in February 2011.

They have not been put on trial or publicly charged, Reuters reported.

Former parliament speaker Karroubi and Mousavi ran for election in 2009 and became figureheads for Iranians who staged eight months of mass protests after a vote they believed was rigged to bring back hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Karroubi's son Hossein told pro-reform Jamaran news website that his father demanded the release of Mousavi.

"They told my father that the same process ... would be carried out for Mousavi within the next few months and Mousavi too would be released," the Jamaran website quoted him as saying.

Iran's judiciary made no comment.

Karroubi, like Mousavi and Rahnavard, had been under round-the-clock surveillance by security guards initially living in his home. But conditions improved in past years for Karroubi, with some family and politicians allowed to visit him.

Suffering from various medical complications, Karroubi has been taken to hospital several times for heart surgery and treatment.

During his election campaign, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian promised to make an effort for their release.