May 31, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday held a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Schulz and French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the Ukraine War and pinned blame on Kyiv for not seeking a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
The phone conversation lasted 80 minutes and the Russian leader Putin brought up the West’s “pumping” of arms into Ukraine. Putin said these donations “risk further destabilization of the situation and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis.”
Putin told them that Russia was open to a negotiated peace deal and said Moscow is willing to help tackle the emerging food crisis if Western countries lift “the relevant sanctions.”
Scholz and Macron urged Putin to declare an immediate armistice and withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine, TeleSUR, the Latin America television network, reported.
The report said there were gains made during the conversation and Putin committed to treating captured Ukrainian combatants “in accordance with international humanitarian law.” He also vowed to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross unrestricted access to the captives.
While Putin talked with the two leaders, Russian forces were continuing their offensive in the Donbas, namely the city of Severodonetsk. Ukraine claims it cannot defend these regions because Russia is attacking these areas with missiles from far away.
President Joe Biden is getting closer to approving a long-range rocket system that has been identified in Russian state-run media as a “red line” that will provoke a “harsh response from Russia,” reports said.
Multiple U.S. officials told CNN that the Biden White House is close to sending Ukraine advanced, long-range rocket systems called the Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS.
Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said last week that Moscow is willing to resume negotiations, but Kyiv must make the first step.
“For our part, we are ready to continue the dialogue. But I will emphasize once again: the ball for the continuation of peace talks is in Ukraine’s court. Freezing the talks is entirely Ukraine’s initiative,” Medinsky said.
Zelensky and his close advisers have said that Russian troops need to leave the country, including areas they currently control.
“When Ukraine says that it will fight until it regains all its territories, it means only one thing: that Ukraine will fight until it regains all its territories. This is about independence and sovereignty.”
Recent Comments