President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had trapped the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region, where they have clung on for more than seven months in one of the key battles of the war.

Vladimir Putin told a news conference that he agreed with the idea of a ceasefire, but he immediately spelled out tough conditions that appeared to rule out agreement.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine gave no indication Friday that his country’s soldiers would withdraw from Kursk, let alone surrender.