After Trump appeal, Putin says he will spare Ukrainians in Kursk if they surrender [Video]

Russia will spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region if Kyiv tells them to surrender, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump urged him to avoid a “horrible massacre” there.

Ukraine denied its men were encircled, describing that as a Russian fabrication, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the situation “very difficult.”

Trump, in a social media post, said he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were “completely surrounded” and vulnerable.

“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,” he said.

Putin, addressing his Security Council, said he had read Trump’s appeal. While accusing Ukrainian troops of carrying out crimes against civilians that he said amounted to “terrorism” — something Kyiv denies — Putin said he …