Putin visits Kursk in military fatigues, orders swift defeat of Ukrainian forces

Trump leaves ceasefire decision to Russia; Kremlin close to ejecting Ukrainian forces from Kursk, Ukraine vows to keep fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, ordered top commanders to defeat Ukrainian forces in the western region of Kursk as soon as possible after the United States asked him to consider a 30-day ceasefire proposal.

Ukrainian forces smashed across the Russian border on August 6 and grabbed a slice of land inside Russia in a bid to distract Moscow's forces from the front lines in eastern Ukraine and to gain a potential bargaining chip.

But a lightning Russian advance over the past few days has left Ukraine with a sliver of less than 200 square km (77 square miles) in Kursk, down from 1,300 square km (500 square miles) at the peak of the incursion last summer, according to the Russian military.

"Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region," Mr. Putin told generals in remarks televised late on Wednesday.

"And of course, we need to think about creating a security zone along the state border."

The remarks by Mr. Putin, dressed in a green camouflage uniform, came as U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped Moscow would agree to a ceasefire and said that if not then Washington could cause Russia financial pain.

Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia's General Staff, told Mr. Putin that Russian forces had pushed Ukrainian forces out of over 86% of the territory they had once held in Kursk, the equivalent to 1,100 square km (425 square miles) of land.