Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday slammed what he said was the “flagrant violation” of international humanitarian law by Ukraine’s forces as he held phone talks with the leaders of France and Germany, the Kremlin said.
“Putin informed [them] about the real state of affairs” in Ukraine, his office said in a statement. “In particular, numerous examples of the flagrant violation of the norms of international humanitarian law by Ukrainian security forces were cited,” the statement said.
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Putin accused the Ukrainian army of “extrajudicial executions of dissenters” and “taking hostages and using civilians as human shields,” the Kremlin said.
He also claimed that the Ukrainian army were deploying heavy weapons near hospitals, schools, and kindergartens.
“At the same time, nationalist battalions are systematically disrupting operations to rescue the population, intimidating civilians during evacuation attempts,” the Kremlin said.
Putin urged France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz to pressure Kyiv authorities into halting these “criminal activities,” the Kremlin said.
The Russian president also informed Macron and Scholz about talks between Russian and Ukrainians negotiators.
“In this connection the leaders of the three countries addressed some issues related to the agreements being worked out on the implementation of well-known Russian demands,” the Kremlin said without providing any details.
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