Vladimir Putin visits Kursk while Russia pushes Ukrainian troops into the captured region

Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the Kursk command spot, where his army chief told him that Moscow’s forces are on the verge of returning to the border region of Ukrainian.

Putin’s visit came just hours after Ukraine agreed with us the proposal for A. 30-day ceasefire In his war with Russia.

He ordered the army to expel Ukraine’s forces outside the region “as soon as possible” and consider placing a buffer zone along the border, according to footage shown on state television Wednesday.

Since Ukraine’s defense has fallen apart in the last few days, Valeri Gerasimov, head of Russian staff, told Putin that their country had captured 400 soldiers and withdrew 86 percent of the territory seized by Kiev in a surprise attack last summer.

Putin said prisoners should be treated “humane”, but warn that other Ukrainian fighters will be considered “terrorists”.

Following a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Ukrainian and US officials backed a month -long cessation of hostilities after the entire Ukrainian gable.

In return, the United States continued military assistance and sharing intelligence with Kiev, which were suspended after last month’s bust in the Oval Office between Donald Trump and Volodymir Zelenski.

In a briefing on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president described a meeting with US officials in Edda as “constructive”. He said the 30-day ceasefire is an American proposal he agreed after being in touch with his team.

“I said again that none of us trust the Russians, but we will not play with the narratives, claiming that we do not want to end this war,” Greenski said, adding that it was “serious” for the planned truce.

Ukraine’s president said support from other countries would be needed to monitor the ceasefire along the 1,000km long line.

In February, Zelenski insisted that Russian territories held by Ukrainian forces in Kursk could be used as a chip to negotiate in peace talks.

But while Ukraine is struggling to defend the captured region, Moscow’s state media shared Wednesday’s footage that it is said that Russian troops in downtown Sujha, the main municipality where Ukraine formed a command center.

“I don’t think they will be ready to stand in Sujha,” said Solomia Bobrovska, a Ukrainian opposition MP and a member of the National Security and Intelligence Committee.

Oleksandr Sirirski, commander -in -chief of Kiev, said on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from parts of the Kursk. “My priority was and remains to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. For this, our forces can maneuver in more favorable lines, “he wrote on a telegram.

The fighting continued in Kursk, including the suburbs of Sujha, Syrian added.

For UkraineThe ceasefire is negotiating just as Ukrainian forces suffer from military failures there are painful echoes. In February 2015

Russia has repeatedly violated that ceasefire agreement – a precedent Zeleski in the White House, so Trump will conclude that the Ukrainian leader was not interested in completing the conflict.

“Putin will try to fill Trump’s ears with nothing, and Trump will have to decide what he is doing next,” said Mihailo Samus, a Ukrainian military analyst. He added that the US president was likely to offer Moscow lifting Western sanctions in exchange for a ceasefire.

Carolyn Levitt, secretary of the White House press, said on Wednesday that US national security adviser Mike Waltz had talked to his Russian counterpart. “The president’s team continues to engage in a ceasefire plan, she added.

Ukrainian authorities and European allies on Wednesday welcomed the rebuilding of American military aid and sharing the intelligence that Kiev’s forces use to hit the goals above the forefront.

“This is an important signal for the whole world that support for Ukraine is untouched,” wrote Andriy Jermak, Green’s top assistant and leader of the Ukrainian delegation in Edaa on telegram.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said on Wednesday that the US transit of military materials in Ukraine through Poland had “returned to previous levels”, as the Satellite Starlink Communications System owned by Trump’s adviser Elon Musk. Poland pays for part of that service to Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Sir Kir Starmer congratulated Trump and Greenski on their “remarkable breakthrough”, adding: “Russia must now agree to a ceasefire and the end of the fighting.”

Starmer said he would reconsider European leaders on Saturday “discussing the next steps” in the “force to assure” plan in Ukraine to prevent Russia from attacking again.

Cremlin said he wanted to hear directly from the US before commenting on A ceasefire proposal. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia had expected the United States to “inform about the details of the talks and agreements reached”.

The call between Putin and Trump can be organized “very quickly,” Peskov said, but added that the White House is yet to ask.

Russia’s foreign intelligence service SIA said on Wednesday that its director Sergei Narishkin had spoken by phone with his US counterpart, CIA chief Johnon Ratcliff, with both agencies agreeing to maintain regular contact.

Even as Russian forces continued to move forward in the Kursk region, the progress of the rest of the front lines seemed to stall. Ukrainian troops have managed to retain Russian attacks on Pokrovsk’s logistics center in recent days and began with a bold counter attack on downtown Toretsk, in August, industrial city forces.

On the front of Pokrovsk, one drone operator reacted to the news of the proposed ceasefire with a Ukrainian word: “Demand ” – “Seee See”.

Additional reporting from Rafael Minder in Warsaw, Henry Hoy in Brussels and Felicia Schwarz in Washington; Cartography by Steven Bernard