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.

In his first visit to the region since Ukraine launched its shock counter-offensive in August, the Russian president hailed recent gains and urged his troops on. The Kremlin said it was awaiting details of a US-Ukrainian proposal agreed this week.

Russia's Security Council's Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting of the Council for Science and Education at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the Moscow region's city of Dubna,