President Putin said Kyiv was pursuing “a destructive line”. (file)
Moscow:
President Vladimir Putin condemned Kyiv’s “disastrous” policies and increasing Western arms supplies to Ukraine in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin said President Putin said Kyiv was pursuing “a destructive line” and had “bet on the intensity of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors, who are ramping up supplies of weapons and military equipment.”
He also accused Kyiv of rejecting his offer to stop fighting on January 7, Christmas Day in Russia and Ukraine. At the time Ukraine dismissed the halt as a Russian ploy to gain time to regroup the military.
Britain pledged to deliver 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine later this week, becoming the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks following pleas from Kyiv.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the weekend that Ukraine could expect more heavy weapons following Kyiv’s request.
The Turkish presidency, for its part, said that “President Erdogan reiterated that Turkey is ready to mediate and facilitate the establishment of a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.”
The Kremlin also said Putin and Erdogan discussed an exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war, including wounded soldiers.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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