Russian President, Vladimir Putin yesterday berated Kyiv’s ‘destructive’ policies and growing Western arms supplies to Ukraine in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin has confirmed.
Putin claimed that Kyiv was currently pursuing ‘a destructive line’ and that it had “bet on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors, who are ramping up supplies of weapons and military equipment,” the Kremlin said.
He also accused Kyiv of rejecting his offer to halt fighting on Christmas Day which is marked on January 7 in Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine at the time dismissed the halt as a Russian ploy to gain time to regroup forces.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Britain had over the weekend pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, which would make it the first Western country to supply heavy tanks following pleas from Kyiv.
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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meanwhile said this weekend that Ukraine could expect more heavy weapons following Kyiv’s requests.
The Turkish presidency for its part said that “President Erdogan reiterated that Turkey is ready to facilitate and mediate the establishment of a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.”
The Kremlin also said Putin and Erdogan discussed an exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war, including wounded soldiers.
Recall that the President of the United States, Joe Biden on Thursday asserted that the Russian leader’s order for a two-day Orthodox Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine was simply a decoy to find breathing room for his war effort.
Speaking last week, Biden said; ‘He was ready to bomb hospitals and nurseries and churches’ on December 25 and on New Year’s Day, I think he’s trying to find some oxygen.’
State Department spokesman Ned Price called Putin’s ceasefire ‘cynical,’ stressing that, ‘We have little faith in the intentions behind this announcement.’