Stalingrad in Eastern Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling on pro-Russian rebels to allow besieged Ukrainian troops safe passage out of the encircled town of Debaltseve in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking Tuesday in the Hungarian capital, Putin also urged the Kyiv government to allow its troops to surrender.

Putin spoke alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as fighting raged in Debaltseve, despite an internationally brokered cease-fire announced last week by Putin and the leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine.

In the news conference, broadcast on Moscow television, Putin noted that Ukrainian troops were encircled at Debaltseve 'about a week before' the truce deal was reached February 12. He also said he'd predicted last week that the encirclement at Debaltseve presaged 'one way or another, for some time, that these clashes will continue.'

Putin Demands Surrender of Encircled Ukrainian Troops