Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Russia's military operation in Ukraine can be suspended only if Kyiv ceases military actions and fulfils Moscow's demands.
Putin also informed Erdogan on the progress of the special military operation to 'defend Donbas' and outlined the main goals and objectives of the operation.
A Kremlin statement said, "Vladimir Putin informed about the progress of the special military operation on protecting Donbas, conveyed principal approaches and assessments in this context, explained in detail basic set goals and tasks. It was emphasized that the special operation is proceeding according to a plan and is on schedule," reported TASS News Agency.
As per the statement, Russian forces "were doing everything possible to preserve the lives and guarantee the security of civilians, precision strikes are targeting exclusively the facilities of military infrastructure."
"Against this background, the actions of nationalist neo-Nazi formations that continue the intensive shelling of Donbas and use civilians, including foreigners, practically taken hostage, as human shields in Ukrainian cities and localities, are particularly cruel and cynical," the statement noted.
The Russian leader confirmed "the Russian side's readiness for dialogue with Ukraine's authorities and foreign partners in order to settle the conflict."
"That said, the futility was noted of any attempts to stall the negotiation process used by the Ukrainian army to regroup its forces and means. In relation to that, it was stressed that the suspension of the special operation is possible only if Kyiv ceases the military actions and fulfils Russia's demands that were made perfectly clear," the Kremlin reported.
"A hope was expressed that during another planned round of talks, Ukraine's representatives will display a more constructive approach that fully takes into account the current circumstances," the press service added.
Furthermore, Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron over the phone on Sunday that he was not against a trilateral meeting among Russia, Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a third country or via teleconference, but not in Chernobyl in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
Notably, Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities following which the western countries imposed a host of sanctions on Russia.
( With inputs from ANI )
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