Russia will spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region if Kiev tells them to surrender, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. The move comes after US President Donald Trump urged him to avoid a "horrific massacre" in Kursk.
Ukraine denied that its people were surrounded, describing it as a Russian fabrication, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the situation “very difficult.” Trump, in a post on social media, said he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians, who he said were “completely surrounded” and defenseless.
"I have strongly urged President Putin to spare their lives. This would be a terrible massacre, unseen since World War II," he said, writes A2 CNN.
Putin, addressing his Security Council, said he had read Trump's appeal. While accusing Ukrainian troops of committing crimes against civilians that he said amounted to "terrorism" - something Kiev denies - Putin said he understood Trump's call to take humanitarian considerations into account.
"In this regard, I would like to emphasize that if (Ukrainian troops) lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and decent treatment in accordance with international law and the laws of the Russian Federation," Putin said, A2 CNN writes.
"To effectively implement the US president's appeal, a corresponding order from the military-political leadership of Ukraine is needed for its military units to lay down their arms and surrender."
Indeed, according to Vladimir Putin's shadowy figure, former President Dmitry Medvedev, Ukrainian soldiers in the Russian Kursk region will face annihilation if they do not surrender. "If the Ukrainians do not surrender in Kursk, they will be destroyed without mercy," said Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of the National Security Council.
(A2 Televizion)
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