Russia said on Thursday there was no doubt that its troops would soon complete the task of clearing out Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk region where they have held a pocket of territory for more than seven months.

Russia says it will discuss the U.S. ceasefire proposal, but Vladimir Putin has signaled he seeks to expel the remnants of Ukrainian forces from Kursk.

The Kremlin on Thursday declined to comment on a Reuters report that Russia had presented the U.S. with a list of its demands to end the war in Ukraine and reset relations with Washington. Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Russian and American officials had discussed Moscow's terms during in-person and virtual conversations over the last three weeks.

Russia on Thursday said it has told Washington that a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States to pause the war in Ukraine would simply give Kyiv’s forces a respite. The Kremlin’s advances along the front in recent months and the attempt of the US President Donald Trump to strike a peace deal to end the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine