President Trump just weighed in on the effort to get a ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine, saying he had good discussions with Putin yesterday and he believes they have a ‘very good chance’ to end the war.

But he also made a special request of Putin, saying that thousands of Ukrainian troops are surrounded by the Russian military and he asked Putin to spare their lives:

We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end — BUT, AT THIS VERY MOMENT, THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIAN TROOPS ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY THE RUSSIAN MILITARY, AND IN A VERY BAD AND VULNERABLE POSITION. I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II. God bless them all!!!

By making this public, I believe Trump puts more pressure on Putin to spare the lives of these Ukranians. But Trump is also suggesting that it will be very detrimental to the peace process, by calling it a potential ‘horrible massacre’, should Putin refuse his request to spare these lives.

Wow. Trump knows what he’s doing here and let’s pray he is successful.