Topline
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday claimed peace talks with Ukraine had reached a “dead end,” and called images of a massacre of Ukrainian civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha that have sparked international outrage “fake,” according to multiple outlets, as the mayor of the city said the death toll was likely to rise.
Key Facts
Speaking alongside Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a press conference at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia, Putin asserted that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine was going “according to plan” and pledged to continue the invasion with peace talks at what he described as a stalemate, according to Bloomberg.
The Russian leader compared events in Bucha, where hundreds of bodies of civilians were found after Russian troops withdrew, to U.S. attacks on the city of Raqqa in Syria, calling the evidence of a Russian massacre “fake,” Bloomberg reported.
Putin’s remarks come the same day Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said 403 bodies had been found in the area, with the death toll likely to grow, according to the Guardian.
Putin also claimed Russia’s financial system was weathering the west’s sanctions “blitzkreig” well, according to the Guardian.
Key Background
Tuesday marks the first time Putin has offered public comments on the Bucha massacre, though the Kremlin has consistently denied Russian troops were responsible for the civilian deaths, despite satellite footage showing dead bodies in the area while it was occupied by Russian troops. His remarks also come several days after a Russian missile strike at a railway station in eastern Ukraine left at least 50 dead, including five children, as Moscow switches focus to the east after failing to capture the capital city of Kyiv. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this week the country would not cease its invasion of Ukraine while peace talks are ongoing, with Russian officials claiming little progress has been made in the negotiations. The two sides last met in Istanbul last month.
Tangent
Putin on Tuesday said he hoped “good sense” would prevail in the West and it would ease sanctions, according to Bloomberg. He claimed earlier on Tuesday it was “impossible to severely isolate anyone in the modern world.”
Further Reading
Putin Says Ukraine Peace Talks ‘at Dead End,’ Vows to Pursue War (Bloomberg)
