Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said that the military operation in Ukraine will only be halted if Russia’s demands are met. He has also likened the West’s sanctions on Russia to “declaring war”.
Putin told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Sunday that Russia would only halt its military operation if Ukraine stopped fighting and Moscow’s demands were met, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin said the operation was going according to plan and to schedule, and that he hoped Ukrainian negotiators would take a more constructive approach at talks and take into account the reality on the ground, the Kremlin said in statement.
Turkish President Erdogan appealed for an urgent general ceasefire in Ukraine when he spoke on Sunday to Putin by telephone, Erdogan’s office said.
The two heads of state spoke ahead of a diplomatic forum in Turkey on March 11-13 that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart are due to attend. Turkey hopes to organize a meeting between the two.
Meanwhile, plans to evacuate civilians from a besieged port city in Ukraine failed to materialise Sunday for the second time along with an expected Russian ceasefire, a Ukrainian official said, as officials tried to persuade Russia to agree on establishing other evacuation routes near Ukraine's capital.
Residents expected to leave the port city of Mariupol during a 10 A.M. To 9 P.M. Local ceasefire, Ukrainian military authorities said earlier in the day.
Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said the planned evacuations were halted because of an ongoing assault by Russian troops.
“There can be no green corridors' because only the sick brain of the Russians decides when to start shooting and at whom,“ Gerashchenko said on Telegram.