LRussian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday (May 3) that the West must stop supplying arms to Ukraine, in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. “The West could help stop these atrocities by exerting appropriate influence on the authorities in Kyiv, as well as by stopping the supply of arms to Ukraine,” the president said, according to a Kremlin statement, also claiming that kyiv “lacks preparation for serious work” in the peace talks.
Vladimir Putin accused Ukrainian forces of committing war crimes and the European Union of “ignoring” them. The Russian president added that despite “the inconsistency and lack of preparation of kyiv for serious work, the Russian side is still open to dialogue” in order to find a way out of the conflict. According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin responded to French concerns about global food security that “the situation in this area is complicated, mainly because of Western countries’ sanctions” against Russia.
Relations between France and Russia have been strained since the start of Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine on February 24. Despite this crisis, Emmanuel Macron spoke with Vladimir Putin on several occasions before and after the outbreak of the conflict in order to seek a solution, without success.