The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin 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.
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Peskov said it was still early to talk about an agreement that Russian and Ukrainian negotiators could sign.
‘I can only state that the Russian delegation is showing a willingness to work much faster than it is doing now,’ he told reporters.
‘Unfortunately, the Ukrainian delegation is not ready to accelerate the pace of talks.’
In talks with Scholz, Putin also stressed that Russian troops were ‘doing their best’ to save civilians including through safe corridors, the Kremlin said, adding that some 43,000 people had been evacuated from the southeastern city of Mariupol on Thursday.
Africa Today News, New York gathered that Putin will also speak by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday evening, Peskov disclosed.
Meanwhile, NATO nations have agreed not to establish a no-fly zone in Ukraine maintaining that the decision was to avoid a direct militarily confrontation with Russia.
This decision was coming despite the repeated appeal by President Volodymyr Zelensky for one.
There will be ‘no deployment of air or ground capabilities in Ukraine and that is the united position of our allies,’ said NATO Chief, Jens Stoltenberg, according to CNN.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK