Russian President Vladimir Putin said a solution needed to be found to stop the “tragedy” of war in Ukraine. He said it for the first time, since the conflict began in February 2022, in his speech at the G20 leaders’ summit, this Wednesday, November 22. He assured that he never refused to seek peace and criticized that it was the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who decreed the impossibility of continuing negotiations. Furthermore, he pointed out the double standards of some world leaders regarding the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
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Russia began what it called a “military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022, which gave way to a war that has left more than 10,000 civilians dead, injured and displaced. Since then, President Vladimir Putin has preferred not to personally attend international diplomatic meetings. This Wednesday, November 22, he spoke at the virtual summit of G20 leaders.
Faced with complaints from some leaders about the Russian offensive that is still ongoing in Ukrainian territory, the president of Russia admitted that “military actions are always a tragedy.”
“And, of course, we must think about how to stop this tragedy,” Putin added, ensuring that, in all this time, his Government has not closed itself off from entering into dialogue to agree on peace with Ukraine. “It is not Russia, but Ukraine, that has publicly announced that it is withdrawing from the negotiation process,” he said.
In 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree declaring any type of conversation with Putin “impossible”, but left the door open to talks with other Russian leaders.
In his speech, Putin also referred, for the first time, to his “special military operation” as “war” and said that the human losses “cannot but be a shock.”
Putin highlighted a double standard with which some world leaders measure what is happening in Ukraine and Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip in what Tel Aviv assures is a war against the Islamist group Hamas, although in six weeks the Israeli Army has already has killed more civilians than Russia’s war in Ukraine in more than a year and a half.
“Isn’t the bloody coup in Ukraine in 2014, followed by the kyiv regime’s war against its people in Donbass, shocking? “Isn’t the current extermination of the civilian population in Palestine, in the Gaza Strip, shocking?” she questioned.
🎙 President of Russia В.В.#Путин in today’s same time #G20:
💬 Hotel бы отметить, что колоссальный стресс, который испытывает м ировая экономика, является прямым следствием непродуманной мкроэко номической политики некоторых государств.
🔗 https://t.co/LdtmHi57Ik pic.twitter.com/Q9gwTTfhnm
— МИД России 🇷🇺 (@MID_RF) November 22, 2023
After his speech, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that he had personally called Putin to ask him to end his attack on Ukraine and withdraw his troops from Ukrainian territory. A similar request was made by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
Attacks in Ukraine increase in intensity
Both sides in the conflict report day after day that they have shot down drones and missiles. The Zelensky Government reported that this Tuesday, November 21, there was an attack on a hospital in the city of Selydove, in southern Ukraine. There was damage to two hospital buildings, injuring at least eight people and leaving three dead. The attack came a week after a missile hit an apartment block in the city.
The attacks have intensified since November, when Ukraine reported Russia’s biggest offensive since the war began. On November 1, in total, 118 towns were affected by the bombings that reached Ukrainian territory. The authorities confirmed several deaths and dozens of injuries, as well as damaged houses and strategic infrastructure. For its part, Russia has also warned of a massive Ukrainian drone attack in the border regions.
This Wednesday marks 637 days of war, with Ukraine maintaining military resistance with the support of the West in terms of weapons and economic resources.
The goal is to bring the victory closer, to guarantee security, and to provide as much protection to our people and state as possible. I thank everyone who is fighting and working for this goal, for the sake of our people and for our independence. pic.twitter.com/vjx3e9judC
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 22, 2023
Meanwhile, kyiv awaits approval from the European Union to officially enter the bloc. For its part, Brussels proposed, in June of this year, a new package of 50 billion euros to help Ukraine in its defense.
The amount would be divided between 2024 and 2027, of which 33 billion would be disbursed in the form of loans and the remaining 17 billion in non-refundable grants. This amount is still being analyzed and does not receive the approval of all the countries that make up the EU.
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense has reported that, since the beginning of the war, it has destroyed 537 Ukrainian military aircraft, 254 helicopters, 9,095 drones, 442 anti-aircraft missile systems, 13,539 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles.
Among the nations, at the beginning of the conflict, there were attempts to achieve peace. March 29, 2022 was the last meeting between senior officials of Russia and Ukraine, in Istanbul, Turkey. Since then, they have not spoken again. Russia assures that it is willing to find a path to peace, but asks that the territorial reality be taken into account, in reference to the last annexed regions. While kyiv insists on the recovery of all its territories, including Crimea, which was annexed to Russia in 2014.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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