Exclusive-Intelligence shared with White House shows Ukrainians not 'encircled' in Kursk

By Erin Banco

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ukrainian soldiers successful Kursk person mislaid crushed successful caller days but are not encircled by Russian forces, contrary to caller comments by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to 3 U.S. and European officials acquainted with their governments' quality assessments.

U.S. quality agencies, including the CIA, person shared that appraisal with the White House implicit the past week, a U.S. authoritative and different idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance said. However, Trump has continued to assertion that Ukrainian troops are surrounded successful occidental Russia's Kursk region.

The U.S. and European quality assessments amusement that Ukrainian troops person faced aggravated unit from Russian forces but they are not wholly surrounded, the officials said.

Trump has said helium hopes to bring a speedy extremity to Russia's warfare successful Ukraine. Experts described a assertion by Putin connected March 13 that Ukrainian forces successful Kursk were chopped disconnected and would yet request to “surrender oregon die” arsenic misinformation intended to amusement that Russia is offering concessions by redeeming the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, giving Putin leverage successful ceasefire negotiations.

In a societal media station connected March 14, Trump said helium had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who helium said were "completely surrounded" and vulnerable. Putin said that helium would bash truthful if they surrendered.

Trump repeated the assertion astir "encircled" Ukrainian forces during a code astatine Washington's Kennedy Center connected Monday and successful a Fox News interrogation connected Tuesday.

The U.S. National Security Council did not respond straight to questions astir the quality assessments but referred Reuters to a associated connection from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz that mentioned Trump's telephone with Zelenskiy connected Wednesday and however the 2 leaders agreed to proceed to stock quality connected Kursk.

The White House, the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence each declined to comment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has denied that Ukrainian forces are surrounded and said Putin was lying astir the world connected the ground.

The Ukrainian person acknowledged his subject is successful a hard presumption successful Kursk and that helium expects continued attacks from Russia arsenic it attempts to propulsion Ukrainian forces retired of the region.

Zelenskiy's bureau and the Russian embassy successful Washington did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

Since August, erstwhile Ukrainian soldiers smashed their mode crossed Russia's occidental borderline successful Kursk, Kyiv has mislaid astir each of the territory it gained. It erstwhile held adjacent to 500 quadrate miles of onshore but present lone holds betwixt 20 and 30 quadrate miles, according to unfastened root reports.

Trump spoke with Putin connected Tuesday. During that call, the Russian person said helium would halt attacks connected Ukraine's vigor infrastructure for 30 days, a committedness that fell abbreviated of the afloat 30-day ceasefire Trump has called for and that Zelenskiy has said Ukraine would beryllium prepared to accept.

"This is apt portion of Putin's effort to marque the constituent that they are winning the warfare and that absorption is useless and that it is inevitable that Russia's greater spot volition bring victory. That resonates with Trump," said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and elder advisor with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Both sides are maneuvering to get into a amended presumption for the negotiations."

Although Russian forces look to beryllium making incremental advances successful Kursk, the officials who spoke to Reuters and experts who survey the battlefield said Putin's March 13 connection was not accurate.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based struggle monitor, said connected March 14 that it had "observed nary geolocated grounds to bespeak that Russian forces person encircled a important fig of Ukrainian forces successful Kursk Oblast oregon elsewhere on the frontline successful Ukraine."

(Reporting by Erin Banco; Editing by Don Durfee and Nia Williams)