Day: March 16, 2025

WASHINGTON — Special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff left Moscow on Friday without a cease-fire deal in hand after Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected President Trump’s terms to begin winding down the war with Ukraine.

Putin met with Witkoff late Thursday after having kept the American waiting since roughly 12:30 p.m., according to flight tracking data and Russian reports, but ultimately sent him home with “signals” for Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters.

“A lot still needs to be done,” Peskov said of the cease-fire agreement, noting that Witkoff “presented additional information to the Russian side.”

Still, the 47th president remained optimistic.

“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 wrote on Truth Social Friday morning.

Trump’s proposal was straightforward: Russia and Ukraine would halt all conflict for 30 days and conduct a prisoner exchange as signs of both parties’ commitments to finding a peaceful resolution.

The US would also restart sharing intelligence with and delivering aid to Kyiv.

But on Thursday, Putin demanded additional measures — a halt to the aid and intelligence-sharing, as well as forcing Ukraine not to train, reinforce or resupply its forces during the cease-fire — during remarks to the press.

Trump had responded Thursday it would be a “very disappointing moment for the world” if Putin did not agree to his cease-fire proposal.

“Putin’s attempts to introduce a new cease-fire agreement on terms that asymmetrically benefit Russia ignore Trump’s stated intention that the cease-fire set conditions for negotiations toward a more comprehensive peace agreement in the future,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest analysis.

“An agreement along the lines Putin appears to be offering would undermine the Trump administration’s stated objective of bringing about a sustainable peace in Ukraine, would reinforce Putin’s belief that Russia can militarily defeat Ukraine, and would incentivize Putin to resume military operations against Ukraine rather than making any concessions in formal negotiations to end the war.”

Trump appeared to offer Moscow another chance to show appetite for peace on Friday, saying on Truth Social that he “strongly recommended” that Putin not slay what he falsely claimed were “THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIAN TROOPS COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY THE RUSSIAN MILITARY, AND IN A VERY BAD AND VULNERABLE POSITION” in Russia’s Kursk region.“

“I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared,” Trump said. “This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II,” he said. “God bless them all!!!”

However, multiple US and Ukrainian officials and experts deny that Kyiv’s troops are in such a position, as their withdrawal from Kursk has been underway for more than a week.

“There is no evidence that is true,” Foundation for Defending Democracies’ John Hardie said. “There is no evidence Russia has captured “thousands” of Ukrainian troops during the withdrawal, and there is no evidence that “thousands” of Ukrainian troops are currently encircled.”

A Post reporter was on the Ukrainian side of the border from Kursk on March 5 when Kyiv’s troops began to withdraw from the Russian territory it had held for seven months prior. 

The Post first reported on March 7 that Ukraine would likely pull all its forces from the Russian territory within two weeks, citing a Ukrainian commander in Kursk.

“It seems as if most Ukrainian forces withdrew or are finalizing their fighting withdrawal,” said George Barros of the Institute for the Study of War. “Our team is not tracking significant Russian claims of Russian forces surrounding Ukrainian forces at scale, and certainly not by the thousands.”

Still, some amount of Ukrainian forces remain in the region fighting off Russian attacks as Kyiv retreats, according to Hardie. It is possible Trump was referring to them, but had the estimate total wrong.

“Some Ukrainian forces apparently remain at Sudzha’s western suburbs and in the Guyevo area,” Hardie said. “The situation is still a bit perilous given Russian efforts to sever their supply routes, but they’re not surrounded.”

Russian sources claimed to have retaken roughly 90% of Kursk as of Friday morning, Barros said, noting “we can verify they’ve seized at least 70% as of yesterday.”

“Available evidence from the battlefield does not indicate any encirclements,” he said.