MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – In a phone chat with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Kyiv for botched civilian evacuations from the strategic Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which is besieged by Russian soldiers, according to the Kremlin.
After two agreements to evacuate Mariupol in south-eastern Ukraine fell through due to charges of ceasefire violations, Putin “raised attention to the fact that Kyiv still does not fulfil agreements reached on this urgent humanitarian situation,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Despite a truce proclamation, Putin claimed that “Ukrainian nationalists” blocked residents and international nationals from leaving the port city of Mariupol and neighbouring Volnovakha on Saturday.