Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, Russian soldiers patrol an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine, asking him to convey Moscow's thoughts to Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Putin asked Witkoff late Thursday to give additional messages to U.S. President Donald Trump, Peskov told reporters, after the Russian leader said at a news conference that he supported a truce in principle but set out a host of details that need to be clarified before it is agreed.

Trump said the U.S. held “very good and productive” discussions with Putin the day before. In a post on his Truth Social site Friday morning, Trump said “that there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end.”

Ukraine, under severe military pressure on parts of the front line three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, has already endorsed the truce proposal. Russia’s army has gained battlefield momentum, and analysts say Putin likely will be reluctant to rush into a ceasefire while he feels he has an advantage. The Russian army, backed by North Korean troops, are now close to completely driving Ukrainian forces from their foothold in Russia's Kursk border region in what would be a major setback for Kyiv.

Trump said Friday that “thousands” of Ukrainian troops are surrounded by the Russian military, adding that he has “strongly requested” Putin to spare their lives. Hours later, Putin told the National Security Council that Moscow is willing to do that if Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region lay down arms and surrender.

Ukraine's General Staff, however, denied Friday that its forces in Kursk are encircled by Moscow's troops and said that any reports to that effect were “fabricated by the Russians for political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners.”

A possible phone call between Putin and Trump to settle outstanding ceasefire issues could be arranged after Witkoff delivers the messages in Washington, Peskov said. “There is an understanding on both sides that such a call is needed,” Peskov said.

“There are certainly some grounds for cautious optimism,” Peskov said of the ceasefire proposal. “A lot still needs to be done, but the president has shown solidarity with President Trump’s position.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday he was “cautiously optimistic,” too. Speaking to reporters at the end of a Group of Seven meeting in Canada, Rubio said Trump administration officials plan to spend the weekend debriefing Witkoff on his session with Putin and on next steps.

The talks with Putin did not appear to secure the immediate agreement for a ceasefire that Rubio had said Americans would press Putin for. But, “we certainly feel like we’re at least some steps closer to ending this war,” Rubio said.

U.S. officials have said Washington was set to discuss technical issues related to a possible ceasefire next week. Given the range of issues on the table, and the sharp differences between what Moscow and Kyiv want, it could potentially take weeks or months for the guns to fall silent.

Trump vowed during his election campaign to settle the war in 24 hours, but in January he changed that timeframe, voicing hope that peace could be negotiated in six months.

Putin’s apparently amicable tone toward the White House reflects the remarkable shift in U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine since Trump returned to office in January. Former President Joe Biden had sought to isolate Putin.

During a speech Friday at the U.S. Department of Justice, Trump said a ceasefire that could halt fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine could be close at hand. He also praised his relationship with Putin and seemed to suggest that Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s 2022 invasion, saying, “You don’t want to pick on somebody that’s a lot larger than you.”

Trump has threatened both Russia and Ukraine with punitive measures if they don’t engage with his peace efforts.

Trump briefly cut off critical military aid and intelligence sharing in an apparent effort to push Kyiv to enter talks on ending the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a tense meeting at the White House on Feb. 28 in which Trump questioned whether Ukraine wanted to halt the war.

Trump has raised the possibility of tightening sanctions on Russia, though his administration has also repeatedly embraced Kremlin positions on the conflict, including indicating that Ukraine’s hopes of joining NATO are unlikely to be realized and that it probably will not get back the land that Russia’s army occupies, which amounts to nearly 20% of the country.

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses downed four Ukrainian drones attacking the Russian capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. One damaged the roof of an apartment building a few kilometers (miles) from the Kremlin.

Several other buildings were lightly damaged by drone fragments, but there were no injuries, according to emergency officials.

==================================================

Laura Geller is celebrating your beauty this International Women's Day! Get 45% off site wide with no coupon code needed. Offer valid 3/8 - 3/10.

==================================================

Waltz: Russia, Ukraine peace deal likely to include Donbas region cession

National security adviser Mike Waltz said Ukraine likely would have to cede some of its Donbas region to Russia if it wants a long-term peace deal.

The comments, during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night, come as the Trump administration pressures Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

Trump officials have previously signaled Ukraine should not expect to return to its pre-2014 borders as part of the peace talks, which effectively takes the Crimean peninsula out of negotiations.

But it’s less clear how much of the eastern Donbas region Ukraine will need to cede, with Russia claiming more land than it currently occupies. Hannity outlined vague contours of a peace plan during his interview with Waltz on Friday.

“I would imagine that Ukraine being a part of NATO is not going to happen, and I would imagine parts — maybe the Donbas region in particular or areas that are heavily populated by people from Russia, that would go to Putin in any negotiated settlement. Am I wrong in my conjecture here?” Hannity asked.

“Sean, no surprise, you’re not wrong in any of that,” Waltz responded. “And what’s important is that we are discussing all of those things with both sides. We are having those discussions with our counterparts, with the Russians.”

“We are having those discussions with our counterparts with the Ukrainians and — and we are pushing both sides together with President Trump, the dealmaker in chief, that is determined to end this war,” he added.

Trump has repeatedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he does not “hold the cards” in talks to end the war, launched by Russia three years ago, as the U.S. president pursues direct and exclusive talks with Putin.

The U.S. briefly paused intelligence sharing and military aid to the Eastern European nation after Trump and Zelensky engaged in a verbal spat in the Oval Office in late February.

Ukraine has been working to mend ties with the U.S., as Europe looks to ramp up its defense spending, seeing the U.S. as an increasingly unreliable ally.

During talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Ukraine agreed to back a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, effectively freezing the current front lines. The Trump administration also lifted its brief freeze on military and intelligence support.

Putin on Thursday said he was open to the U.S. ceasefire proposal but had his own conditions to ensure the “causes” of the war were addressed. A top Putin adviser said the ceasefire helped Ukraine and did nothing for Russia.

“Of course both sides are going to have their demands, and, of course, both sides are going to have to — to make some compromises, and the shuttle diplomacy of going back and forth is happening,” Waltz told Fox News.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, who has taken on a sprawling foreign affairs portfolio, landed in Russia on Thursday to meet with Putin.

“I’ve spoken into my counterpart, Special Envoy Witkoff is — is out there and bringing things back for us to evaluate and for the President Trump to make decisions on next steps,” Waltz said.

==================================================

Laura Geller is celebrating your beauty this International Women's Day! Get 45% off site wide with no coupon code needed. Offer valid 3/8 - 3/10.

==================================================