Russian President accuses Ukraine of stalling talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Kiev of trying to stall peace talks even though Moscow is ready to search for solutions to end the military conflict in Ukraine.

Putin said during a call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday that Kiev "is trying in every possible way to stall negotiations, putting forward more and more unrealistic proposals."

"Nevertheless, the Russian side is ready to continue to search for solutions in line with its well-known principled approaches," said Putin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also echoed Putin, saying, "Unfortunately, the Ukrainian delegation is not ready to accelerate the pace of talks."

"I can only state that the Russian delegation is showing a willingness to work much faster than it is doing now," he told reporters on Friday.

Putin also said Russian troops were "doing their best" to save the lives of civilians, including by organizing safe corridors for the evacuation of the population from cities in the combat zone. He said some 43,000 people had been evacuated from the southeastern city of Mariupol on Thursday.

Fighting continues in Mariupol, Lugansk

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday that Russian troops and pro-Russia forces were fighting in the center of the Russia-besieged town of Mariupol.

It said that separatists from the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic had also "liberated more than 90 percent of the republic's territory."

Since Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine on February 24, several cities in the east have been effectively cut off by constant fighting. Several attempts to transport civilians from the towns failed, and both Moscow and Kiev have accused each other of violating the ceasefire they had agreed to earlier this month.

According to Mariupol's authorities, at least 2,100 people have been killed in the city and 80 percent of its housing has been destroyed.

The United Nations warned on Friday that "the humanitarian situation in cities such as Mariupol and Sumy is extremely dire."

SS