French President Emmanual Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of this week's EU Summit.
The European leaders also called on the Kremlin leader to order the release of roughly 2,500 "defenders of Azovstal" who were being held as prisoners of war by Russian military forces. The Azovstal steel plant was the final holdout of Ukrainian forces before Moscow took full control of the port city of Mariupol.
EU Leaders Call for Peace in Ukraine
Reportedly, Putin conveyed "the openness of the Russian side to the resumption of dialogue" during the 80-minute phone call with the two European leaders. Macron and Scholz also expressed an "urgent need for the blockade of Odessa to be lifted."
The calls aim to resume the export of Ukrainian grain and put an end to the blockade that has exacerbated food shortages and inflation worldwide. The two leaders also "took positive note of the Russian president's commitment to treat captured fighters in accordance with international humanitarian law" and called on Putin to ensure an improvement in the humanitarian situation of the civilian population of Ukraine, as per The Hill.
Since the beginning of the war, thousands of civilians have lost their lives to the fighting amid the Russian bombing of civilian targets. Millions of others have either fled the country for safety or have been internally displaced and left without their homes.
In turn, Putin warned against the West continuing to send weapons to Ukraine, saying that doing so would cause "further destabilization of the situation and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis." German Chancellor Scholz last week said that Russia's invasion was a global "turning point."
According to Fox News, Zelensky, on the other hand, said that he was not "eager" for dialogue with Russia but noted that such conversations would likely have to happen if they want the war to end. Delegations from both countries have held multiple discussions since the war began, which, unfortunately, have recently stalled.
Peace Negotiations
The calls for peace talks come after Moscow officials earlier this month said that the last fighters defending the factory of Azovstal in Mariupol have surrendered after being surrounded. Ukrainian President Zelensky said that his government has given them permission to leave.
Previously, Russia also claimed that more than 900 of the Ukrainian fighters were transported to a reopened prison colony in Russian-occupied Donetsk. Some of the troops were believed to have endured serious injuries and were taken to a hospital.
Ukraine is looking to negotiate the release of the fighters as part of a prisoner exchange deal but Russia has not confirmed its agreement to a trade. Some Moscow officials have also argued that the fighters should be tried or executed.
Russian authorities said that the demands of allowing the export of grain from Ukraine's ports, which have been blocked by Russian warships, must be responded to in kind by the lifting of "relevant sanctions." The situation comes as the war between the two nations is approaching its 100th day and as Moscow has refocused its efforts on eastern Ukraine, NPR reported.
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