Vladimir Putin reportedly told the European Council president on Friday that he is only prepared to hold direct peace talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky if they can produce concrete results.
During a 90-minute phone call, Russia’s leader told Charles Michel that Kyiv was not ready to agree to terms Moscow could accept and accused Ukraine of being “inconsistent” in negotiations.
It comes after Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed earlier this week that Russia had handed over key documents to Ukraine to take forward negotiations. However, Mr Zelensky later said he had not recieved any paperwork.
Meanwhille, a Russian military official has been quoted as saying Moscow intends to take full control of Donbas and southern Ukraine as part of the second phase of its so-called “special military operation”. Rustam Minnekayev was also cited by Interfax news agency as saying Russia planned to forge a land corridor between Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014, and Donbas in the east.
Key points
- Putin accuses Ukraine of being ‘inconsistent’ in negotiations
- Russia would allow evacuation of Mariupol’s Azovstal plant, if Ukraine surrenders
- UN: ‘50’ civilians executed in Bucha, some ‘summarily'
- Satellite images show mass graves near Mariupol
- More than 200 children killed in Ukraine since war began – data
- UK could send tanks to Poland, says Boris Johnson
Tory MP denies ‘proxy war’ between Nato and Russia16:00 , Sam Hancock
In the Netherlands, defence minister Leo Docherty has been speaking to reporters about the conflict in Ukraine.
Asked by the PA news agency if there is effectively a proxy war between Nato allies and Russia now that Ukrainian troops are in the UK being trained on how to use new equipment, the Tory MP said:
“Not at all. I think what it shows is that we are standing by our our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. We’ve done that all along. We’ve been very much on the front foot.
“We were the first European nation to give lethal aid. And we’re very proud of that.
“We’re proud of the fact that we’ve been able to help Ukraine defend their homeland.”
He was speaking at the Invictus Games which, this year, are being held in The Hague.