After a three-way phone call with the Russian leader and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “lies” for alleging that Ukrainian forces had committed human rights abuses.
France and Germany urged Putin Saturday to end a deadly days-long siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the French presidency said.
Putin spoke about “issues related to agreements under discussion to implement the Russian demands” for ending the war, the Kremlin said without providing details.
The Kremlin said Putin also told Macron and Scholz about video calls between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators over the past few days.
The Russian leader also repeated his allegation that Ukrainian forces using civilians as shields had thwarted efforts to evacuate civilians from combat zones.
Ukraine’s military said Saturday that Russian forces captured Mariupol’s eastern outskirts, tightening the armed squeeze on the strategic port.
Taking Mariupol and other ports on the Azov Sea could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky encouraged his people to keep up their resistance, which many analysts said has prevented the rapid offensive and military victory the Kremlin likely expected while planning to invade Russia’s ex-Soviet neighbor.
“The fact that the whole Ukrainian people resist these invaders has already gone down in history, but we do not have the right to let up our defense, no matter how difficult it may be for us,” he said.
Zelensky also accused Russia of employing “a new stage of terror” with the alleged kidnapping the mayor of Melitopol, a city 192 kilometers (119 miles) west of Mariupol. After residents of the occupied city demonstrated for the mayor’s release Saturday, the Ukrainian leader called on Russian forces to heed the calls.
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“Please hear in Moscow!” Zelensky said Saturday. “Another protest against Russian troops, against attempts to bring the city to its knees.”
He said 500-600 Russian troops had surrendered on Friday alone and that about 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed since the conflict began.
More than 2,000 residents of the southern city, which is now under Russian control, protested outside the city administration building to demand the release of the mayor, Ivan Fedorov, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said.
In multiple areas around the capital, artillery barrages sent residents scurrying for shelter and air raid sirens wailed.
Putin launched the invasion on Feb. 24 in an operation that has been almost universally condemned around the world and that has drawn tough Western sanctions on Russia.
The bombardment has trapped thousands of people in besieged cities and sent 2.5 million Ukrainians fleeing to neighbouring countries.
(With inputs from agencies)
