– Putin informed them about the real situation. In particular, he pointed to repeated violations by Ukrainian security forces of the norms of international humanitarian law, an official statement from the Kremlin said.
He claimed that Ukraine executed dissidents and used civilians as human shields as well as deploying heavy weapons at hospitals, schools and kindergartens. In addition, Putin reiterated the Kremlin’s claim that Ukrainian forces are deliberately disrupting the evacuation of civilians.
Asked for the release of the mayor
Before Scholz and Macron spoke with Putin, they had a telephone meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who asked the two to demand that Putin’s forces release the mayor of Melitopol. According to Ukrainian authorities, the mayor was abducted by Russian soldiers on Friday.
– During the night and today we have talked to our partners about the situation regarding our mayor. Our demand is clear: he must be released immediately, Zelensky said in a video released by Ukrainian authorities.
