Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump urges Putin to spare Ukrainian troops from massacre after ‘productive ceasefire talks’

Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of “lying” about the battlefield situation between Russia and Ukraine.

It appears to be a response to Putin’s claim that Kyiv’s troops are surrounded in Kursk, where the Ukrainian military has been forced back after a rapid Russian offensive.

Putin said in a press conference yesterday that the troops face two options: surrender or die.

“Putin is lying about the real situation on the battlefield, he is lying about the casualties, he is lying about the true state of his economy, which has been damaged by his foolish imperial ambitions, and he is doing everything possible to ensure that diplomacy fails,” Mr Zelensky wrote in a long X post discussing recent diplomacy efforts.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “deliberately” trying to drag out the ceasefire process, saying Moscow wants the war to continue.

“The exchange of prisoners and an unconditional 30-day full interim ceasefire are the first quick steps that could significantly bring us closer to a just and lasting peace. Ukraine is ready to take these steps because the Ukrainian people want peace more than anyone,” Mr Zelensky said on X.

“Meanwhile, the world sees how Russia is deliberately setting conditions that only complicate and drag out the process, as Russia is the only party that wants the war to continue and diplomacy to break down.”

Here’s what that front currently looks like.

Donald Trump says he has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to spare the lives of “thouands of Ukrainian troops” who were “completely surrounded by the Russian military”.

“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,” he said on his Truth Social.

It’s most likely Mr Trump is referring to Kursk.

In that border region, Russia launched a rapid counteroffensive last week, reclaiming hundreds of square miles worth of territory and pushing Ukrainian forces back to the border.

They have not been surrounded, as Mr Trump claims. The latest reports suggest the remaining troops are being evacuated out of the shrinking salient.

The source of Mr Trump’s claims appears to be Mr Putin himself.

During a speech yesterday, the Russian leader claimed that Russia had trapped the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region, where they have clung on for more than seven months in one of the key battles of the war.

Donald Trump said the US talks with Putin yesterday were productive but warned “thousands” of Ukrainian troops were in danger of being massacred by Russia.

“We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“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!!!”

David Lammy says G7 allies are united in their belief that “now is the time for a ceasefire with no conditions”.

Speaking after a meeting with his foreign minister counterparts in Canada, Mr Lammy said there was plenty of “common ground” in the discussions.

“I think that there is a unified approach that we need an enduring peace that lasts, I think that there is unity that now is the time for a ceasefire with no conditions,” the foreign secretary said.

“Ukraine has set their position out. It is now for Russia to accept it. I think that there is a coalition of the willing emerging to give Ukraine the security architecture and arrangements that they need, and to get into the detail of any monitoring of that ceasefire, going forward.”

Lammy said there would soon be a detailed statement from the ministers on the crisis.

Donald Trump has blamed his predecessor for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a spray on his social media site.

“Crooked Joe Biden got us into a real ‘mess’ with Russia (and EVERYTHING ELSE!), but I’m going to get us out,” he said on Truth Social.

“Millions of people are needlessly dead, never to be seen again…and there will be many more to follow if we don’t get the Cease Fire and Final Agreement with Russia completed and signed.

“There would have been NO WAR if I were President. It just, 100%, would not have happened.”

Trump also blamed high inflation, the Hamas October 7 attack on Israel, the “embassassing” pull-out of Afghanistan and “illegal” immigration on the former president.

“Oh, what a difference A RIGGED & CROOKED ELECTION HAD ON OUR COUNTRY, AND THE PEOPLE WHO DID THIS TO US SHOULD GO TO JAIL! GOD BLESS AMERICA AND, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he said.

It seems that maybe Vladimir Putin doesn’t “have something” on Donald Trump after all.

There are “positive messages” emanating from Moscow, Trump has told reporters, but “a positive message means nothing” – a rare moment of cynicism towards Putin from a president who has hitherto appeared unaccountably indulgent towards the Russian autocrat.

The G7’s goal is to have a united position on Ukraine and the Middle East, Ukraine’s foreign minister said.

Mélanie Joly was speaking at the Group of 7 summit in Canada, where delegates from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, have agreed on a statement calling for robust “security arrangements” to help Ukraine defend against “renewed acts of aggression” by Russia.