Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday lambasted Ukrainian authorities over what he described as wasting ‘an opportunity’ to hold talks earlier with Moscow.
The Kremlin claimed that Putin had briefed Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about ‘the course of a special military operation to protect Donbas’.
According to the statement, Putin had during the call, pointed out that, he ‘also noted that the Russian delegation is in the Belarus city of Gomel and is ready for negotiations with representatives of Kyiv, who, showing inconsistency, have not yet taken advantage of this opportunity’.
Read Also: ‘Russian Invaders Frustrated By Stiff Ukraine Resistance’
Bennet for his part proposed that Israel act as a mediator in talks between Russia and Ukraine ‘in order to halt the hostilities’, the Kremlin said.
Bennett’s office said the two men ‘discussed the situation between Russia and Ukraine’.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the call came on the heels of reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had asked Israel to play a mediation role following the Russian invasion.
Bennett and Zelensky spoke on Friday evening.
Russia wants to hold talks with Kyiv authorities in Belarus, which has allowed Russian troops passage to invade Ukraine.
Zelensky said Sunday that Ukraine was willing to hold talks with Russia, but rejected convening them in neighbouring Belarus.
Meanwhile, Africa Today News, New York had earlier reported that a senior US defense official on Sunday claimed that Russia’s invasion force is being slowed and frustrated by unexpectedly stiff resistance from Ukrainian troops which has kept them outside Kyiv.
The official also revealed that the United States and her Western allies are still able to deliver arms into the country to bolster the Ukraine military, and in the coming days, Washington plans to send more in the coming days to help them fight both Russian armor on the ground and assaults from the air.
According to the information made public by Pentagon, Russia now has over 50 percent of its massive invasion force inside Ukraine and surging into Kiev.
But the force is making slow progress on its original three-front thrust due to unexpectedly stiff resistance, the official told reporters, on grounds of anonymity.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK