Putin speaks to Macron, tells French President West should stop sending arms to Ukraine

During the telephone conversation, the Russian President pointed out that the EU member countries ignore the "crimes committed by the Ukrainian forces".

New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (May 3, 2022) discussed the situation in Ukraine with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and told him that the West should stop sending arms to Kyiv.

During the telephone conversation, Putin pointed out that the EU member countries ignore the "crimes committed by the Ukrainian forces", and the massive shelling of cities and communities in the Donbass region resulting in civilian casualties. 

"The West could help stop these atrocities by influencing the Kyiv government, as well as stopping arms deliveries to Ukraine," the Kremlin quoted the Russian president as saying.

Putin also told Macron that Russia "remains open to dialogue" despite all the "inconsistencies in Kyiv’s position" and its "unwillingness" to take this process seriously, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The two presidents agreed to maintain contact at various levels.

Russia, notably, denies alleged war crimes by its own forces in Ukraine and has blamed the deaths of civilians on what it calls nationalists and "neo-Nazis", a claim dismissed by Kyiv and the West.

Meanwhile, Russian forces pounded targets in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday and unleashed rockets on a steel plant that is Ukraine`s last redoubt in the port city of Mariupol. Russian attacks in Ukraine`s eastern Donetsk region killed 21 civilians and injured 27 on Tuesday.