Ukrainian “nationalists” are using civilians as a “human shield” and the Russian president Vladimir Putin has urged the Ukrainian military to take control and shield innocent families from coming to grief.
“Take the power into your own hands,” said Putin, adding that the army would be a better negotiating partner than a “bunch of drug addicts and neo-Nazis” who he claimed have “entrenched themselves in Kiev” and are holding the people of Ukraine “hostage.”
As Russian army began rolling over the Ukrainian defense, Kremlin claimed that Ukraine began deploying rocket artillery inside civilian neighbourhoods in major cities.It kind of explains why Kiev first agreed to hold peace talks with Russia in Minsk, the venue later changing to Warsaw in Poland before it “ghosted”, said Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelensky had said on Friday he was willing to talk with Russia to stop the “invasion” of Ukraine. The Kremlin had communicated Russia’s terms for ending the military operation aimed at “demilitarizing and denazifying” Kiev.
“The Ukrainian side said it had reconsidered the idea of holding talks in Minsk, chose Warsaw instead, and then disappeared,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday evening.
Peskov pointed out that the sudden pause came as “nationalist elements” began deploying multiple rocket launcher systems in residential areas of major Ukrainian cities, which Russia warned could lead to civilian casualties that Moscow has been trying to avoid.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had earlier said that it had prepared a delegation for peace talks with Kiev, which President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko agreed to host in Minsk. Dialogue depended on the “responsible behaviour of Kiev,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cautioned.
Moving the talks to Warsaw would present a problem, as Poland announced on Friday it would close its airspace to all Russian flights.
The Russian military operation began early on Thursday following requests from the newly recognized Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics for aid under their mutual treaties with Moscow.
The DPR and LPR, which Russia recognized as independent states this week, claimed that they were facing an imminent all-out attack, while Kiev insisted it was not planning to retake the area by force.
Putin insisted the military operation was the only choice left after Kiev abandoned the internationally-brokered Minsk agreements, which not only required it to observe a ceasefire, but also to give the Donbass region more autonomy.
