Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of ‘war crimes’ during a call with his French counterpart, stressing that Moscow was doing ‘everything possible’ to avoid civilian deaths in Ukraine contrary to widely held speculations.
‘Attention was drawn to the numerous war crimes committed daily by the Ukrainian security forces,’ the Kremlin quoted of the call between Putin and Emmanuel Macron.
‘In particular massive rocket and artillery attacks on the cities of Donbas,‘ the Kremlin added, referring to Ukraine’s Russian-speaking east, part of which is controlled by pro-Moscow separatists.
Read Also: War: Putin Accuses Ukraine Of Stalling Talks
Putin told Macron the Russian army was “doing everything possible to safeguard the lives of peaceful civilians, including by organising humanitarian corridors for their safe evacuation,” the Kremlin said.
Both leaders also discussed ongoing talks between Moscow and Kyiv to end the conflict in Ukraine in the telephone call, which was a ‘French initiative’, it said.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that Putin had on Friday lambasted Ukrainian authorities accusing them of stalling talks as a means of finding workable solutions to the ongoing conflict.
Putin made the accusation when he spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz noting that Moscow was ready to ‘search for solutions’.
‘It was noted that the Kyiv regime is trying in every possible way to stall negotiations, putting forward more and more unrealistic proposals,’ the Kremlin disclosed after the phone call.
‘Nevertheless, the Russian side is ready to continue to search for solutions in line with its well-known principled approaches’ he added.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the phone talks between Putin and Scholz ‘tough’ but added that such contacts were still needed for future moves.
Peskov said it was still early to talk about an agreement that Russian and Ukrainian negotiators could sign.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK