The Trump administration said it was optimistic about the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine even as President Vladimir Putin appeared to reject US calls for immediate halt to the violence.Instead the Russian leader demanded Ukraine to order troops who had occupied land in the Kursk region to surrender.

US President Donald Trump has praised talks held with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the US-proposed ceasefire deal in Ukraine as "good and productive". This comes after Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff met in Moscow on Thursday evening,

President Trump said on Friday he "strongly requested" that Russian President Vladimir Putin "spare the lives" of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, whom he claimed were "surrounded" in the Kursk region in Russia.