US President Donald Trump urged Putin to spare the lives of the Ukrainian troops as he said his envoy had held "productive" talks with Russia's leader on a proposed 30-day ceasefire.
Russia has mounted a rapid counteroffensive in the western border region of Kursk over the past week, recapturing much of the territory Ukraine seized in a shock incursion last August.
Defeat in Kursk would be a major blow to Ukraine's plans to use its hold on the region as a bargaining chip in peace talks for the three-year-old war.
"We are sympathetic to President Trump's call," Putin said in remarks broadcast on Russian television.
"If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment," Putin said.
Trump said "thousands" of Ukrainian troops were "completely surrounded by the Russian military, and in a very bad and vulnerable position".
'Horrible massacre'
"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," Trump said.
Ukraine's military leadership denied the claims. "There is no threat of our units being encircled," Ukraine's General Staff posted on social media.
Zelensky gave a more sober assessment in comments to reporters in Kyiv. "The situation in the Kursk region is obviously very difficult," he said, while insisting the campaign still had value.
Russia, he said, had been forced to pull troops from other areas on the front line, easing pressure on Ukrainian forces fighting to keep control of the eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
Trump's latest comments came as he gave an update on a meeting Thursday between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin on a US-Ukrainian proposal for a 30-day pause in hostilities.
"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," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Ukraine losing grip
Putin said Thursday that he had "serious questions" about the proposal and that events in Kursk would influence the next moves towards a ceasefire.
Zelensky accused the Russian leader of seeking to undermine the ceasefire initiative.
"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," Zelensky posted on X.
The Kremlin said Friday that it was "cautiously optimistic" a deal could be reached, but that Trump and Putin had to speak directly before talks could progress.
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said in a Fox News interview that the United States had "some cautious optimism" after Witkoff's visit.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a meeting of the Group of Seven western powers in Canada that both sides would have to make "concessions".
G7 foreign ministers warned Russia of new sanctions unless it accepted a ceasefire "on equal terms", saying sanctions could include "caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means".
France and Germany accused Russia of seeking to block a ceasefire, and support for Ukraine was to be discussed again in a video conference of some European leaders with Zelensky on Saturday.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday said Russia's "complete disregard for President Trump's ceasefire proposal only serves to demonstrate that Putin is not serious about peace".
Diplomatic sources said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas would propose that the 27-country bloc supply up to 40 billion euros ($43.5 billion) in new military aid to Ukraine.
Ukraine hoped its hold on Kursk would be a bargaining chip in talks with Russia and was eyeing a potential land swap with Moscow, which has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its military offensive in February 2022.
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