President Donald Trump on Friday sounded an optimistic note about efforts to halt the fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine, but he added a sense of urgency to stave off a “horrible massacre.”
In a post on the Truth Social social media platform, Trump wrote that U.S. negotiators “had very good and productive discussions” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said that there is “a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end.”
But one potentially bloody development is looming.
In the post, Trump wrote, with uppercase emphasis, “AT THIS VERY MOMENT, THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIAN TROOPS ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY THE RUSSIAN MILITARY, AND IN A VERY BAD AND VULNERABLE POSITION.”
Trump did not go into detail, but Ukraine forces who entered the Kursk region of southern Russia in August are now being driven back by the Russian military.
On Saturday, Newsweek reported that troop dispositions of both sides showed the Ukrainians were in danger of being surrounded.
Almost a week later, Trump is trying to save those soldiers’ lives.
“I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared,” Trump wrote. “This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II. God bless them all!!!”
Will Trump succeed in brokering peace for Ukraine and Russia?
Trump has made securing peace between Russia and Ukraine one of his signature goals.
Russia invaded its neighbor to the west in February 2022, amid signals of weakness from then-President Joe Biden.
Since then, the war has killed or wounded upwards of 1 million on both sides, according to a Wall Street Journal report from September.
At that time, about 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed, according to the Journal, with 400,000 wounded. Up to 200,000 Russian soldiers were killed and about 400,000 wounded.
On Thursday, in talks in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire though Russia, the original aggressor, had not.
The Ukraine forces in the Kursk region, the Washington, D.C.-area news outlet Axios reported, are part of Putin’s questions.
“Would it mean that everybody there would leave?” he asked, according to Axios. “Should we release them after they committed serious crimes against civilians?”
Meanwhile, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, top commander of Ukraine’s military, acknowledged that his troops were in a “difficult” position in Kursk but denied they are surrounded, according to Axios.
He said his military could fight in Kursk “as long as reasonable and necessary,” Axios reported.
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