“It depends on them: we are not the ones who refuse to negotiate,” the Russian leader said in an interview with state TV.
We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved on acceptable solutions, but it depends on them: we are not the ones refusing to negotiate,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said of the war in Ukraine, as Russian forces continued shelling Ukrainian territory, in a clear sign of that peace is not imminent.
In an interview on Russian state television, parts of which were broadcast on Sunday, Putin declared that Moscow is “ready to negotiate some acceptable outcomes with all participants in this process.”
“We are not the ones who are refusing to negotiateIt’s them,” he said, reiterating the same position the Kremlin has taken in recent months as its 10-month-old war in Ukraine is losing momentum.
The Russian president also reiterated his argument that Russia “I had no choice” rather than invade and that “it is acting in the right direction”.
more attacks
“We are defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, of our people,” he said.
The comments came as Russia continues its attacks on Ukraine.
On Sunday alone, the authorities twice issued an anti-aircraft alert for all of Ukraine and three missiles fell on Kramatorsk in the partially occupied Donetsk area in the afternoon, local officials said.
The missiles hit an industrial sector of the city and there were no casualties, according to the Ukrainian governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko. He added that the town of Avdiivka was also attacked on Sunday with six artillery rounds and a woman was injured there.
Meanwhile, in other areas of the battlefront, Russian forces were struggling to maintain the momentum of their offensive in the city of Bakhmut, where heavy fighting has been fought in recent weeks, a US-based think tank reported.
The Institute for the Study of War reported that the pace of the advance of Russian forces in the Bakhmut area has probably slowed in recent days, although it is too early to say whether the Russian attempt to take Bakhmut has been concluded.
The think tank quoted Russian military bloggers as saying they recently acknowledged “that Ukrainian forces in the Bakhmut area have managed to slightly slow down the pace of the Russian advance around Bakhmut and the surrounding settlements”.
Sources on Ukrainian social media “previously claimed that Ukrainian forces completely expelled Russian forces from the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut” around December 21, the report added.
Problems
“Russian forces probably will have a hard time keeping up with their operations offensives in the Bakhmut area and may attempt to initiate a tactical or operational pause,” the institute concluded.
A day earlier, a deadly Russian attack on the southern city of Kherson, liberated by Ukrainian forces last month, left dozens of people dead or injured.
Russian forces they shelled 71 times the Ukrainian-controlled areas of the partially occupied Khershon region in the past 24 hours, including 41 attacks against the city of Khershon, the Ukrainian governor of the region, Yaroslav Yanushevich, reported on Sunday.
A total of 16 people have been killed, according to the governor, including three emergency workers who died in demining in the region’s Berislav district. Yanushevich said 64 more have been injured.
In the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, the city of Nikopol came under heavy artillery overnight, Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said. No casualties have been reported.
Source: AP and ANSA
PB