US had productive talks with Putin over Ukraine war, Trump says

US President Donald Trump has praised talks held with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the US-proposed ceasefire deal in Ukraine as âgood and productiveâ.
This comes after Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff met in Moscow on Thursday evening, during which they exchanged information and shared the USâs âcautious optimismâ over a peace process, the Kremlin confirmed.
Trumpâs Truth Social post on Friday said the talks provided âa very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an endâ.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, maintained that Putinâs response so far shows Russia wants to continue the war and does not want a ceasefire.
On Thursday, Putin had said the idea of a ceasefire was âright and we support it⊠but there are nuancesâ and he set out a number of tough conditions for peace, a response branded âmanipulativeâ by Zelensky.
Ukraineâs leader continued his criticism on Friday in a series of posts on X, writing: âPutin cannot exit this war because that would leave him with nothing.
âThat is why 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.â
He said Putin would âdragâ everyone into âendless discussions⊠wasting days, weeks, and months on meaningless talks while his guns continue to kill peopleâ.
âEvery condition Putin puts forward is just an attempt to block any diplomacy. This is how Russia works. And we warned about this.â
Earlier this week, Ukraine accepted the US-proposed ceasefire deal, which Russia is yet to agree to.
âI strongly urge everyone who can influence Russia, especially the United States, to take strong steps that can help,â Zelensky continued in his social media posts on Friday, adding Putin would not stop the war on his own.
âPutin is lying about the real situation on the battlefield⊠the casualtiesâ and âthe true state of his economyâ, he said, explaining that Putin was âdoing everything possible to ensure that diplomacy failsâ.
But the White House believes the two sides have ânever been this close to peaceâ.
Talking to reporters, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained that the talks between Putin and Witkoff in Moscow on Thursday were âproductiveâ.
She added Trump has been âputting pressure on Putin and the Russians to do the right thingâ.
Trumpâs social media post also âstrongly requestedâ Putin should spare the lives of Ukrainian troops, whom he described as surrounded by Russian forces, adding it would be a âhorrible massacreâ not seen since World War Two.
His comments came after Putin said on Thursday that Ukrainian troops in Kursk had been âisolatedâ and were trying to leave, as Russia ramps up efforts to reclaim the region invaded by Ukraine last year.
But on Friday, Ukraineâs armed forces general staff denied the encirclement of its troops, calling it âfalse and fabricatedâ.
In a statement, it said operations were continuing, with Ukrainian troops having withdrawn and âsuccessfully regroupedâ to better defensive positions.
âThere is no threat of encirclement of our units,â it said.
In response to Trumpâs request, Putin said Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk would be treated with âdignity in line with the norms of international law and the laws of the Russian Federationâ if they gave up arms and surrendered.
Meanwhile, G7 members have been meeting in Quebec, where host Canadian Foreign Minister MĂ©lanie Joly said all the members agreed with the US proposal of a ceasefire that is supported by Ukrainians.
âAnd we are now studying and looking at Russian reactions, so ultimately the ball is now in Russiaâs court when it comes to Ukraine.â
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who was also at the meeting, said the members were united in calling for a ceasefire with âno conditionsâ.
Following the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would not make foreign policy decisions based on what leaders said on social media or at a news conference, and stressed the âonly way to end this war is through a process of negotiationsâ.