Peace Talks Were Broken Up

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently made one of his first public statements following his orders to withdraw Russian troops from northern Ukraine in which he explained that negotiations for peace with Ukraine came to a “dead end” and made the prediction that the war will continue until it “achieves its objectives”.

Multiple reports have signaled that Russia has plans for a new operation in order to end or make significant progress on its military operation in Ukraine by May 9, otherwise known as Victory Day, to celebrate the former Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, with a battle in Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Claims have been made that the statements pointed to the strongest signs yet that the war in Ukraine still has a long way to go. Putin explained that Kiev broke up the peace talks after making “false allegations of war crimes y Russia” and demanded security guarantees to cover the entirety of Ukraine.

On the other side however, Moscow sees Mariupol as a vital component in its attempts to annex eastern Ukraine and continue its advancements westward. Additionally, Ukraine officials have prioritized investigating claims that Russian forces have used chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces.

There has been no public response from the Russian government on the alleged use of chemical weapons in Mariupol.

Putin was also quick to dismiss any claims from Ukraine and the West that Russia had committed war crimes as fakes.

Following the withdrawal of Russian troops from towns and villages around the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Ukrainian troops have been taking journalists around to show corpses of supposed civilians killed by Russian forces, destroyed houses, and burnt-out cars.

More details from Wayne Dupree reports:

After Russian troops withdrew from Bucha, a village west of Kyiv, where local officials reported finding hundreds of dead civilians, Mr. Putin said peace talks had come to a halt because of a “fake” situation there. Investigations are being conducted by Ukrainian and Western officials into possible war crimes perpetrated in these and other formerly Russian-held cities in northern Ukraine prior to Moscow’s withdrawal at the end of March.

He also claimed that Ukrainian negotiators had strayed from the Istanbul accord. The sides haven’t made any progress toward a possible ceasefire despite Kyiv’s demand for a neutral status and international security guarantees late last month.

This is where we’ve been all along,” Putin stated. It is well-known that inconsistencies in critical topics have hampered our ability to reach final agreements on the negotiation track that are acceptable to us. Even without that, the military action will continue until its goals, which were first stated, have been met.

In a further indication that Russian forces will start an assault on the east, Vladimir Putin stated that the main objective of the offensive will be “to help civilians in Donbas.” During a visit to the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport located in Russia’s Far East, he said that “there is no doubt” that this target would be met.

As part of a shifting combat effort, the Russian military is focusing on the Donbas, according to the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense. Russia is expected to continue to move troops from Belarus to Ukraine’s eastern regions, including the city of Kramatorsk, where a deadly missile attack occurred last week, according to British intelligence.

High-precision air and sea-based missiles launched overnight destroyed an ammunition depot and a hangar with Ukrainian aircraft at the Starokostiantyniv military airfield in the western Khmelnytskyi region, as well as an ammunition depot in the Kyiv region, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday. According to him, six Ukrainian outposts in the Donetsk region were wiped out by Russian airstrikes, which he said had targeted the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade.

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