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Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Putin, Scholz talk Ukraine situation

(Xinhua) 10:01, December 03, 2022

MOSCOW/KIEV, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed various aspects of the situation regarding Ukraine with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday over the phone.

Putin urged "a transparent investigation" with the participation of Russian specialists into the "terrorist act" against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines, the Kremlin said.

The two leaders also touched upon the implementation of the Black Sea grain export deal signed in Istanbul in July, and Putin emphasized the need to remove all obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilizers.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Russia is not prepared to negotiate with the United States if Washington sets the precondition that Russia pulls troops out of Ukraine, but that Putin remains generally open to contacts.

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Fifty Ukrainians taken captive in the Russia-Ukraine conflict were released in the latest prisoner swap, Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President's Office, said Thursday on Telegram.

The prisoners released included soldiers who fought for Mariupol city and the Azovstal steel plant, captives who were held in the Olenivka penal facility, and those wounded in battles in Donetsk, Lugansk, and the Zaporizhzhia directions, Yermak said.

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More than 14.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said Thursday.

In particular, 11.7 million Ukrainians entered EU countries and 7.7 million of them received the status of temporary protection there that envisages assistance with work, housing and other aid, Lubinets wrote on Facebook.

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The United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine as they not only supply weapons but also train military personnel for Kiev in Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

The West deployed hundreds of instructors to teach Ukrainians how to use the supplied weapons, sent a huge number of mercenaries to Ukraine and provided intelligence, Lavrov said, adding that former relations between Russia and the West will not be restored. ■

(Web editor: Liang Jun, Liu Ning)

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