Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed, on Saturday, that Moscow does not seek a clash with NATO forces in Syria, noting at the same time that Russia does not refuse to hold talks related to Ukraine.
“No one wants a direct clash between NATO forces and Russia in Syria,” Putin said at a press conference.
He added that if someone wants it, Russia is ready.
Putin’s remarks came after his meeting, Friday, with African leaders in St. Petersburg.
He noted that his country may seek peace negotiations with Ukraine, adding that the African peace initiative as well as the Chinese initiative can serve as a basis for peace.
This came during a press conference a day after Putin’s meeting with African leaders in St. Petersburg.
Putin said it was difficult to implement a ceasefire while the Ukrainian army was on the offensive.
He stated that there are no major changes or intensification of actions on the Ukrainian front at the moment.
He added that Ukraine had lost 415 tanks and 1,300 armored vehicles since the fourth of June.
Reuters could not verify the figures given by Putin.
And Ukraine announced, on Saturday, that Russia launched a missile attack on the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine this evening, Saturday, killing one civilian and wounding five others.
“During the evening of July 29, an enemy missile hit an educational institution… At least one civilian was killed and five others were injured,” the ministry added on the Telegram app.
Anatoly Kurtiev, Secretary of the Zaporizhia City Council in southern Ukraine, said that a Russian missile killed two people and shattered the windows of apartments in the city, on Saturday.
“An enemy missile hit an open area. Unfortunately, a man and a woman were killed and another woman was wounded,” Kurtiev added via the Telegram app.
Rescue teams were seen loading the two dead into two body bags in a wooded area beside a railway line, a few hundred meters from a station in the city centre.
The blast wave shattered the windows of 13 high-rise buildings and “damaged the building of an educational institution and a supermarket,” Kurtiev said, adding that psychiatrists and other teams were providing support on the ground.
Despite his talk of stopping the fighting, Putin mentioned that Russia carried out some “preventive” strikes after an attack by Ukraine on the Crimean bridge caused damage.
A Russian couple were killed and their 14-year-old daughter was injured last week, in what Moscow described as a Ukrainian attack that damaged the vehicle traffic section of the bridge linking Russia and Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
On the other hand, Putin said that the proposal to establish a “gas center” in Turkey is still on the agenda.
He added that Moscow wants to create an electronic platform for gas sales in Türkiye.
Last year, Putin proposed the idea of a Russian “gas hub” in Turkey as Moscow works to redirect its energy exports after European countries severely cut imports in response to its war in Ukraine.
Putin said he had agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to hold telephone talks on Wednesday.
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2023-07-29 23:09:49
