"President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin painted a rosy picture of discussions to bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine, while Kyiv urged the U.S. to exert pressure on Russia after the Kremlin rejected an immediate cease-fire.
Trump described the talks as productive, while the Kremlin said there were reasons to be cautiously optimistic following a meeting in Moscow between Putin and the U.S.'s special envoy Steve Witkoff.
On Thursday, Putin said he didn't support an immediate pause in fighting because it would give Ukraine's forces a battlefield reprieve, and a host of issues needed to be worked out.
"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 conflict can finally come to an end," Trump wrote in a social-media post on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the U.S. to press Russia to do more to end three years of grueling fighting, as he appeared to acknowledge that Ukraine's incursion in Russia's Kursk region was coming to an end.
"The situation is very difficult now. I can only thank our soldiers for this operation. It accomplished its task," Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Friday.
Trump, in his post, also said he appealed to Putin to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who he said were surrounded by Russian troops, without elaborating.
Russian forces have advanced rapidly in the Kursk region in recent days, placing supply lines to Ukrainian forces there under fire and leading troops to withdraw from several villages and the town of Sudzha.
Ukraine's military leadership said any reports of encirclement in Kursk "are false and fabricated by the Russians for political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners."
"There is no threat of encirclement of our units," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said, adding that combat operations there were ongoing.
Later Friday, Putin said that he was sympathetic to Trump's call and if the Ukrainians lay down their arms and surrender, they would be "guaranteed life and dignified treatment." He called on Ukraine to issue an order to its units to surrender as prisoners of war.
Earlier, the Kremlin said Putin received Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, in a late-night meeting on Thursday.
"Through Witkoff, Putin transmitted information and additional signals to President Trump," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday. "Nevertheless, the president expressed solidarity with Trump's position."
The Kremlin's response to the cease-fire proposal so far reflects a dilemma facing Putin: whether to accept a truce when Russian forces are gaining ground or to reject it and risk undermining a delicate thaw in relations with Washington.
Zelensky, for his part, warned that more pressure had to be applied on Russia if Moscow was to end the conflict. "Putin will not end the conflict on his own. But the strength of America is enough to make it happen," Zelensky said in a message on social media.
Peskov said Friday that an exact time for a conversation between Putin and Trump hadn't been set, and that it would be determined after Witkoff relays the information he received in Moscow to Trump. "There is an understanding on both sides that such a conversation is necessary," Peskov said.
The cease-fire offer, negotiated by the U.S. and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia this past week, put pressure on the Russian leader to signal a willingness to work toward peace.
Russia has recently made rapid gains toward expelling Kyiv's forces from its Kursk region, where the Ukrainian army had been controlling Russian territory since last year.
With its army advancing on the battlefield and retaking territory Ukraine had hoped to use as a bargaining chip, Russia has little incentive to stop the fighting.
The Group of Seven industrialized nations, meanwhile, on Friday urged Russia to accept a cease-fire.
"G-7 members applauded Ukraine's commitment to an immediate cease-fire," foreign ministers from the countries said. "G-7 members called for Russia to reciprocate by agreeing to a cease-fire on equal terms and implementing it fully."” [1]
1. World News: Trump Calls Russia Talks 'Productive' --- U.S. president, Putin paint rosy picture of discussions to end the conflict in Ukraine. Kantchev, Georgi; Coles, Isabel; Gordon, Michael R. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 15 Mar 2025: A9.
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