Putin To Macron: Stop Ukrainian War Crimes

By Staff, Agencies

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that “The West can help stop the Ukrainian forces’ war crimes if it uses its influence over Kiev and ceases the supply of weapons to the country.”

During their phone conversation, which reportedly lasted for more than two hours, Putin congratulated Macron on his recent re-election and updated him on developments in Ukraine, including the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, according to a readout of the call.

Putin stated that the EU nations have ignored “the war crimes of the Ukrainian security forces, massive shelling of cities and towns of Donbass, resulting in civilian casualties.”

“It was noted that the West could help stop these atrocities by rendering an appropriate influence on the Kiev authorities, as well as by ceasing its supply of weapons to Ukraine,” the Kremlin said.

The Russian president emphasized that Moscow was still open to dialogue with Ukraine, despite what he called Kiev’s “inconsistency and unpreparedness for serious work.” Ukraine blames Moscow for the deadlock in the talks.

According to the Kremlin, Macron expressed concern over the issue of global food security. The French leader earlier named Russia’s attack on Ukraine as a main reason for a looming food crisis, but Putin claimed the situation had worsened “primarily due to the sanctions” imposed by Western countries on Moscow, and stressed “the importance of the unimpeded functioning of the global logistics and transport infrastructure.”