President Vladimir Putin of Russia says his country will continue the fight against those he described as “militants of nationalists armed groups” in Ukraine.
In a phone conversation with President Emmanuel Macron of France on Thursday, Putin reportedly said any attempt to slow down the conflict talks would “only lead to additional demands on Kyiv in our negotiating position”.
“Russia intends to continue the uncompromising fight against militants of nationalist armed groups,” Putin was quoted as saying.
According to The Economic Times, the Russian president also spoke on his determination to obtain the disarmament of Ukraine.
The French president had, in turn, told Putin he was making a “major mistake” in Ukraine.
Confirming the conversation, Macron, in a tweet, said Russia needs to put an end to the war and avoid “human tragedies”.
On Monday, Macron had put a call through to Putin, asking him to stop the attack against civilians and infrastructure in Ukraine.
According to a statement from Macron’s office, the French president also asked the Russian leader to respect international humanitarian law, and allow aid shipments to reach the population.
Amid calls to Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine, the warring countries agreed to hold a negotiation without preconditions.
The negotiation took place near the Belarus-Ukraine border on Monday as Russian troops continued their attack on Ukrainian cities.
But no agreement was reached by the two countries in the first round of negotiation.
They, however, discussed the possibility of holding a second round of negotiations in the near future.
Before the negotiation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said he had little hope of a breakthrough.
“I will be honest, as always: I do not really believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let them try,” Zelenskyy had said.
According to Michelle Bachelet, UN high commissioner for human rights, 227 civilians had been killed and 525 injured in Ukraine as of Tuesday.
On its part, Russia said 498 of its soldiers had died and 1,600 had been injured.
