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.

A senior Kremlin official said that a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the U.S. and accepted by Ukraine would help Kyiv.

Kyiv has called on Moscow to respond to the proposed ceasefire - the Kremlin says it is waiting to be briefed by the US.