US President Donald Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to spare Ukrainian troops being pushed back out of Russia's Kursk region and said there was a "very good chance" the war could end.
Trump posted on social media after his envoy, Steve Witkoff, held a lengthy meeting with Putin on Thursday night in Moscow that Trump described as "very good and productive."
"We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end," Trump said in a Truth Social post, adding that he had requested that Putin spare the lives of "completely surrounded" Ukrainian troops.
"I have strongly requested to President Putin that their [Ukrainian soldiers in Russia's Kursk region] lives be spared," he wrote. "This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II."
No Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas war under Trump?
Trump asserted that the war in Ukraine, which began when Russia illegally invaded the country, would not have happened if he had been president at the time.
"Millions of people are needlessly dead, never to be seen again…and there will be many more to follow if we don’t get the Cease Fire and Final Agreement with Russia completed and signed. There would have been NO WAR if I were President. It just, 100%, would not have happened," he wrote.
He went on to say that "there would have been no October 7th with Israel," if the Hamas attacks had happened during his presidency.
Trump's post comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent back a list of demands in response to a US-brokered ceasefire to stop the three-year-old conflict.
Putin said on Friday that he was aware of Trump's requests, but that he would only spare the lives of Ukrainian troops on the frontlines in Russia's Kursk region if Kyiv called for them to surrender, TASS reported.
Putin said on Thursday that he supported Trump's proposal in principle, but that fighting could not be paused until several crucial conditions were worked out, raising the prospect of longer negotiations.
“We agree with the proposal to cease hostilities but we have to bear in mind that this ceasefire must be aimed at a long-lasting peace and it must look at the root causes of the crisis,” Putin said at a Russian news conference, as reported by CNN.
Putin's demands included that Ukraine stop training troops, that other nations stop sending Kyiv military support, and that Russia would keep all of the land it annexed in the war, which amounts to approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Despite its heavily qualified nature, Trump called Putin's statement "very promising."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Putin - who has expressed concern that Ukraine would exploit any truce to regroup - had used the late-night meeting with Witkoff to convey information and "signals" to Trump.
"There are certainly reasons to be cautiously optimistic," Peskov said. "(Putin) said that he supports President Trump's position in terms of a settlement, but he voiced some questions that need to be answered together".
Ukraine, US pushes for peace
Only hours after Trump's post on Truth Social, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that those who can push the Kremlin to sign a peace agreement should do so.
"I strongly urge everyone who can influence Russia, especially the United States, to take strong steps that can help. Pressure must be applied to the one who does not want to stop the war. Pressure must be put on Russia. Only decisive actions can end this war, which has already lasted for years," he wrote in a post on X/Twitter.
"We believe it is our partners’ responsibility to ensure that Russia is ready to end the war – not to look for reasons why it should continue for more weeks, months, or years, but to end it," he continued.
"Putin will not end the war on his own. But the strength of America is enough to make it happen."
Additionally, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that there was reason to be "cautiously optimistic," though he added there was still work to be done.
"Suffice to say, I think there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. But by the same token, we continue to recognize a difficult and complex situation," Rubio told reporters following his meetings with counterparts from G7 countries in Canada.