Update(1358ET): The Kremlin has responded to President Donald Trump's request that the lives of the Ukrainian troops encircled in Russia's Kursk Region be spared, which was conveyed in a Friday Truth Social post by the president. Moscow says it is "sympathetic" to this request, and the pattern in the battle to retake Kursk has been to take POWs if weapons are laid down.

At the same time President Putin has called immediate surrender of all Ukrainian troops remaining on Russian soil. Trump had acknowledged that "thousands of Ukrainian troops" are "completely surrounded by the Russian military" in the southwest Kursk region.

Putin said during a National Security Council meeting on Friday that Russian forces guarantee their lives if they lay down their arms, according to state media translation:

Putin responded that he was aware of Trump's request, adding that Russia was willing to consider it. "If they lay down their arms and surrender, [we] will guarantee them their lives and dignified treatment in accordance with international law and Russian legal norms," the president said.

But Putin also emphasized the "numerous crimes against civilians" in the region, also has hundreds of thousands of citizens have fled over the last six months of the Kursk occupation on risky operation ordered by Zelensky.

The Ukrainian leader has meanwhile rejected that he will cede territory in Ukraine for the sake of peace, and is demanding a 'strong response' from the US. But clearly Trump's own words suggest he's not ready to order some kind of greater intervention on Kiev's behalf.

President Trump has revealed Friday that he has held the second phone call of his current administration with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the prospect of ending the Ukraine war. The call, held Thursday, included a plea by Trump for Russia to spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers currently surrounded in the Kursk region. Such a direct appeal like this by Trump is unprecedented.

"We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday" - Trump began a statement on Truth Social, before continuing, "and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end..."