Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly prepared to hold peace talks with Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Saturday, as the Russian military claimed to have recaptured the border region of Kursk.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin stated his readiness to negotiate during a meeting with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Friday.

"During yesterday's talks with Witkoff, Vladimir Putin reiterated that Russia is ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions," Peskov said, claiming that Putin has repeated that several times in the past.

Peskov's comments came after the Russian military claimed to have ejected or eliminated the last of the Ukrainian troops which had made a surprise cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk region in August last year, considered by many analysts to be an attempt to give Kyiv a territorial bargaining chip ahead of any negotiations.

"Today, the last settlement in the Kursk region, the village of Gornal, has been liberated from Ukrainian forces," Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov said during a video conference meeting with Putin on Saturday.

Russia admits presence of North Korean troops

Gerasimov praised in particular the "heroism" of North Korean soldiers who had taken part in the operation and "provided significant assistance in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces" — the first time the Russian Army has officially acknowledged the use of North Korean troops.

According to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, Pyongyang sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia last year to help Moscow fight back against Ukraine's shock Kursk offensive.

"The Kyiv regime's adventure has completely failed," Putin responded in video footage released by the Kremlin, adding: "The full defeat of the enemy in the Kursk border region creates conditions for further successful actions by our forces on other important parts of the front."

In a statement quoted by Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian Defense Ministry said its armed forces were "assisting [the] authorities of [the] Kursk region in restoring peaceful life" and that "the territory is being demined."

Ukraine insists Kursk operations ongoing

The Ukrainian armed forces dismissed the Russian claims as "nothing more than propaganda tricks" and insisted that, while the situation was "difficult," Ukrainian troops were still holding positions in Kursk and also conducting active operations in Russia's Belgorod region.

"The statements of representatives of the high command of the aggressor country about the alleged end of hostilities in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation are not true," Ukraine's General Staff said on Saturday, adding:

"The defensive operation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in certain areas in the Kursk region continues. The operational situation is difficult, but our units continue to hold designated positions and carry out assigned tasks, while inflicting effective fire damage on the enemy with all types of weapons, including using active defense tactics."

Zelenskyy meets Trump and Macron at Vatican

Earlier on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a 15-minute meeting with  US President Trump at the Vatican ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis.

The White House described the meeting, which was the first time the pair had come face to face since their infamous argument in the Oval Office in Washington in February, as "very productive." Ukrainian officials described the conversation in St Peter's Basilica as "constructive" and Zelenskyy himself said it could prove "historic."

"We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out," he wrote on social media.

While in Rome, Zelenskyy also met with French President Emmanuel Macron, who said that his Ukrainian counterpart had told him that Kyiv was "ready for an unconditional ceasefire" and that "he'd like to work with the Americans and the Europeans to put it into effect."

Macron said that "ending the war in Ukraine" is "an objective that we share in common with President Trump" and added that France and the United Kingdom were prepared to lead a so-called "coalition of the willing" to help enforce any potential peace deal.

Trump threatens Putin with further sanctions

President Trump, however, then cast doubt on Putin's willingness to negotiate in a social media post while flying back from the Vatican on Saturday.

"There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days," he said, referring to deadly recent Russian missile strikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv and Sumy . "It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war."

Trump suggested that Putin could be "tapping me along" and perhaps "has to be dealt with differently through banking or secondary sanctions."

He also repeated his claims that he has "nothing to do with this stupid war" and blamed his Democratic predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama for leaving him a "mess" to clean up.

"This is Sleepy Joe Biden's war, not mine," he claimed. "It was a loser from day one, and should have never happened, and wouldn't have happened if I were President at the time."

He seemed unaware that Ukraine was engaged in a war against Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas throughout his entire first term.

Edited by: Kieran Burke