Russian forces have recaptured Sudzha, the largest town that Ukraine once occupied in the Kursk region, according to Moscow, threatening Kyiv’s sole territorial bargaining chip amid pressure to negotiate an end to the war.

“In the course of the offensive operations, units of the North military group liberated the settlements of Melovoy, Podol and Sudzha,” the Russian defense ministry said Thursday.

The US-based conflict monitor the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also said footage from the ground indicated that Russian forces had seized Sudzha and advanced to southern Zaoleshenka, a settlement just northwest of the town.

Its recapture would represent a major symbolic victory for Russia. Although Sudzha is a small place, with a population of about 5,000 people before Ukraine’s incursion, it was one of the only key towns still held by Ukraine.

Speaking on the regular call with reporters Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed confidence that all parts of the Kursk region held by Ukraine will soon be liberated.

“President (Vladimir Putin) said that this needs to be done as quickly as possible. (It will take) as much time as is necessary to save the maximum number of lives of our military and civilians. But there is no doubt that the Kursk region will be liberated fairly soon,” Peskov said asked how long it might take to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the area.

Putin made a surprise visit to the Kursk region on Wednesday. Wearing military uniform in video broadcast by Russian state television, the Russian president told frontline troops that Moscow’s goal is to “completely liberate” Kursk as soon as possible, during his first trip to the western region since Ukraine’s unexpected incursion there last year.

The carefully choreographed visit appeared designed to boost morale as Russian forces advance on the final remnants of Ukraine’s holdouts inside Russia.

Putin delivered a speech to soldiers, in which he urged them to oust the remaining Ukrainian forces in the region and raised the possibility of creating a “buffer zone” along Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk should be treated as “terrorists,” Putin added.

Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk in August, swiftly capturing territory in what was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II. As well as capturing land that could potentially be swapped for Russian-occupied territory, the campaign aimed to divert Moscow’s resources from the frontlines in Ukraine’s east.

But Kyiv has struggled to hold onto its captured territory, with its grip on the region rapidly deteriorating in recent days.

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s top general Oleksandr Syrskyi hinted at further tactical retreats to “more favorable positions,” saying his priority was to “save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.” Russia had carried out airstrikes on its own land, including the town of Sudzha, which was “almost completely destroyed,” Syrskyi added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also told reporters on Wednesday: “The Russians are clearly trying to put maximum pressure on our troops. The military command is doing what it has to do, saving as many lives as possible.”

Russia’s top general Valery Gerasimov claimed Wednesday that Russian forces had recaptured more than 86% of the area taken by Ukraine, that 430 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner – and the remaining Ukrainians were surrounded.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

A Russian presidential aide has cast doubt on a US ceasefire proposal for Ukraine, as American special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to brief Kremlin officials on the peace plan.

Kremlin aide Yuriy Ushakov said Thursday that Moscow doesn’t want a temporary ceasefire as it would give a break to the Ukrainian army, saying that he explained Russia’s position to US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz in a Wednesday phone call.

“(I) outlined our position that this is nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military and nothing more,” Ushakov said in an interview with Russian state media, pouring cold water on the proposal before Thursday’s talks began. “We believe that our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement. That is what we are striving for.”

The Kremlin has previously ruled out a temporary ceasefire, but this is the first time a senior Russian official has outlined that position since the United States and Ukraine held talks in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, in which Kyiv accepted proposals for a 30-day US-backed ceasefire covering the entire frontline.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Thursday that Russia would formulate its position once it receives direct information from the American side.

Witkoff arrived in Moscow Thursday, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Ushakov also claimed ahead of Thursday’s talks in Moscow that “the Americans and we think that there can be no talk about NATO in the context of the Ukrainian settlement and in the context of Ukraine’s future.”

Previously, Moscow said it would be unacceptable for troops from NATO countries to be present in Ukraine, even under national flags. On Thursday, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova went further, rejecting “any” foreign military presence.

“For us, it is absolutely unacceptable to deploy units of the armed forces of other states in Ukraine under any flag, whether it be a foreign contingent, military bases, or some peacekeeping operations,” Zakharova said, adding that Russia would respond with “with all available means.”

When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked Wednesday about the possibility of European troops acting as peacekeepers, the top US diplomat responded: “There’s different ways to construct a deterrent on the ground.”

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the ball is now in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s court in terms of bringing the war in Ukraine to a halt.

“We’re going to have to see. It’s up to Russia now,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, as he declined to comment on whether he has a meeting scheduled with the Russian leader.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Residents of Naples and its surrounding areas abandoned their homes and camped out in parks and cars after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck near the Italian city early Thursday morning, rattling nerves after weeks of intense seismic activity.

There were several reports of homes damaged and cars hit by falling debris when the quake hit the densely populated area of Campi Flegrei, to the west of Naples, just before 1.30 a.m. local time. Fifteen people were treated in local hospitals, according to local authorities.

More than 1,813 earthquakes and tremors ranging between 0.3 and 3.9 magnitude were recorded in the area in February alone, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).

Over the last week, nearly 300 quakes, some between 2 and 3 magnitude, have been detected.

The seismic activity is occurring across a vast caldera, formed by an eruption of the Campi Flegrei super volcano more than two million years ago. The caldera stretches 125 miles under the Bay of Naples to the city’s western limits, and out to the islands of Capri and Ischia. The most intensely affected area is the Campi Flegrei “red zone,” which is home to some 500,000 people.

The Italian Fire Brigade and Red Cross (INGV) said they assisted many people who had camped out overnight and were fearful of aftershocks. On Thursday morning, schools had been closed by local authorities.

The INGV said Thursday morning that there was no imminent risk of eruption of Mt. Vesuvius or the Campi Flegrei super volcano, which is dormant.

Mt. Vesuvius, famous for burying the city of Pompeii in 79 A.D., is not connected to the current seismic activity, the INGV said. It sits on the opposite side of Naples to Campi Flegrei.

The Campi Flegrei area is currently in a state of “positive bradyseism” – meaning the ground is slowly rising, which causes cracks in buildings and infrastructure, according to Giuseppe De Natale, a research director at the INGV in Naples.

“The shallow rocks cannot hold high levels of pressure, so if the pressure increases too much, there could happen complete fracturing of the rocks, which is generally the cause of the eruption of a volcano,” he said.

The last time the area experienced “positive bradyseism,” in 1984, the ground rose 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) before descending.

The recent increase in seismic activity has prompted some local restaurants to offer “seismic discounts” based on the magnitude of the quake (17 percent off for a 1.7 magnitude trembler).

Peppe Minieri, who owns A’ Scalinatell restaurant, told the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera that if his customers stay at their tables through the tremors, rather than running outside, they will get a free lunch or dinner.

“Obviously it’s a provocation to make light of the situation we’re experiencing,” Minieri said.

Meanwhile, there is concern for the safety of the local population, with vulcanologists warning that the “red zone” should be permanently evacuated.

The super volcano’s last eruption was in 1538, which resulted in a new bay on the coast.

While experts do not believe an eruption is imminent, the seismic swarms are worrying to locals, especially since the region has not been able to design an effective evacuation plan that would ensure the rapid escape of 500,000 people.

Armenian and Azerbaijani officials said Thursday that both countries have agreed to a peace agreement set to end nearly four decades of conflict between the two post-Soviet countries.

The neighboring countries have been engaged in a decades-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region in the Caucasus Mountains that was home to around 120,000 ethnic Armenians. The region is internationally considered part of Azerbaijan but for decades was under the control of Armenian separatists.

The breakthrough in the two nations’ protracted peace process came on Thursday, with Armenia’s foreign ministry saying in a statement that the Peace Agreement is “ready for signing.”

Armenia accepted Azerbaijan’s proposals on “the two unresolved articles” of the draft agreement, the Armenian foreign ministry statement detailed.

“One of the two articles concerns the issue of not deploying forces from third countries along the border. The other concerns the mutual withdrawal of claims from international instances and the commitment not to take actions against each other,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said to journalists Thursday, according to Armenia’s state news agency Armenpress.

Azerbaijan confirmed the success of the peace talks. “We note with satisfaction that the negotiations on the text of the draft Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been concluded,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

However, hurdles remain. Azerbaijan also said Armenia’s constitution must “eliminate the claims against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” as a prerequisite to allow for the signing of the peace treaty.

“We are ready to continue the bilateral dialogue on these and other issues related to the normalization process between the two countries,” the statement said.

Armenia’s leader said Thursday there had been “no discussions” regarding Baku’s demand that Armenia amend its constitution, Armenpress reported.

“After the Constitutional Court’s decision last year, it is clear that the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia does not contain territorial claims against Azerbaijan or any other country. Secondly, we believe that Azerbaijan’s Constitution includes claims toward the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan said, according to Armenpress.

The Armenian leader stressed that the agreed text of the draft peace agreement “addresses and resolves all these concerns,” Armenpress reported.

While Armenia’s statement did not reference its constitution, last month Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called for a “national referendum” to adopt a new constitution without setting a date for the vote or specifying what changes would be contained in a new draft, Reuters reported.

Armenia and Azerbaijan had already fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and ceasefire agreements between them had proven brittle. The conflict flared again in September 2023, when a lightning 24-hour assault saw Azerbaijan regain total control of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting the region’s ethnic Armenian population to flee to Armenia within a week.