The Kremlin said today that Ukraine was trying to delay peace talks, saying that the Russian delegation was more willing to work faster than Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also criticized US President Joe Biden’s comment on President Vladimir Putin, calling it a “personal insult.”
Peskov said Biden’s words, calling Putin a “war criminal”, were caused by irritability, fatigue and memory loss.
Earlier in the day, Russian President Putin also said in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Kyiv was trying to gain time in peace talks with Russia, but Moscow was still persistent in its talks.
In a telephone conversation, “it was noted that the Kyiv regime is trying to slow down the negotiation process by making more and more unrealistic proposals,” the Kremlin said. “However, the Russian side is ready to continue the search for a solution in accordance with its well-known principled approaches.”
In a telephone conversation that lasted almost an hour, Scholz called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, a spokesman for the German government said. He also stressed that the humanitarian situation needs to be improved and progress is needed in finding a diplomatic solution as soon as possible, the spokesman said.
Putin told Scholz that the Russian military had managed to evacuate about 43,000 people from Mariupol yesterday during a humanitarian operation in the city, TASS reported, citing the Kremlin’s press service.