Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to representatives of the flight crew of Russian airlines as he visits to Aeroflot Aviation School.
Highlights
- Russian President Vladimir Putin held an hour long phone call with French president
- Putin also stated that he had no objections to meeting in the IAEA-Russia-Ukraine format
- Putin blamed Ukrainian authorities for not fulfilling the agreements on the civilian evacuation
Russian President Vladimir Putin held an hour long phone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Sunday. Putin stated that he had no objections to meeting in the IAEA-Russia-Ukraine format. He told Macron that he would not meet in Chernobyl but is ready for a video conference or a meeting in a third country.
Other than this, he blamed the Ukrainian authorities for not fulfilling the agreements on the evacuation of civilians from places of the clash. In a report released by Kremlin, he stated that Kyiv had failed civilian evacuations from the port city of Mariupol, which is currently surrounded by Russian troops.
Earlier, plans to evacuate civilians from a besieged port city in Ukraine collapsed for the second time along with an expected Russian cease-fire, Ukrainian officials said as they tried to persuade Russia to agree on terms for safely getting residents out of areas under fire near Ukraine’s capital.
Meanwhile, Russian forces launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks across the country, including dropping powerful bombs on residential areas of Chernihiv, a city north of the capital of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said. But a miles long Russian armoured column threatening the capital was still stalled outside Kyiv.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy pushed his call for foreign countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Establishing a no-fly zone would risk escalating the conflict by involving foreign militaries directly. Although the United States and many Western countries have backed Ukraine with weapons shipments, they have sent no troops.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Moldova pledging America’s support to the small Western-leaning former Soviet republic. The country is coping with an influx of refugees from Ukraine and keeping an eye on Russia’s intensifying war with its neighbour.
The third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place Monday, according to David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation. He gave no additional details.
Also Read | Indian who was shot in Kyiv during Ukraine-Russia war returning to India today
Also Read | Russia-Ukraine war: Modi attributes Operation Ganga success to India’s growing influence
