Ukrainian president seeks talks with Russia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, February 25 that he wants to hold negotiations with Russia over its military operation.

Zelensky made the remarks in a televised address, according to a statement published in the president's official website, Xinhua reports.

Also Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said his Thursday phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, demanding a halt to Russia’s military offensive, was made on behalf of Zelensky, who was unable to reach him directly.

Macron told reporters that his conversation with Putin was frank, direct and brief. "It was also to ask him to discuss with President Zelensky, who had requested that, because he could not reach him," Macron said after attending a European Union summit in Brussels, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The French leader said Putin had been deceptive in his exchanges with the French leader, preparing to invade Ukraine while discussing the details of the Minsk agreements, a 2015 accord between Russia and Ukraine over control of Eastern Ukraine that was never implemented.

"Yes, there was duplicity. Yes, there was a deliberate, conscious choice to launch war when we could still negotiate peace," Mr. Macron said.

China's President Xi Jinping said, meanwhile, that he supported solving the Ukraine crisis through talks in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media said Friday, after Moscow launched an invasion of its neighbor, NDTV reports.

In a readout of the call on state broadcaster CCTV, Xi pointed out that the "situation in eastern Ukraine has undergone rapid changes... (and) China supports Russia and Ukraine to resolve the issue through negotiation".

Russian forces have launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, unleashing air strikes and sending troops deep into the country, after weeks of diplomatic efforts failed to deter Putin from launching the military operation.

Beijing has trod a cautious diplomatic line on the crisis and refused to call it an "invasion" or condemn the actions of Russia, its close ally.

Xi said on the call with Putin it was important to "abandon the Cold War mentality, attach importance to and respect the reasonable security concerns of all countries, and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations".

According to the Chinese media readout, Putin outlined the reasons for Russia launching the "special military operation", and told Xi that NATO and the United States had "long ignored Russia's reasonable security concerns".

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized "a special military operation" in Donbass, and Ukraine confirmed that military installations across the country were under attack.