France attacks Russia, says Kremlin only 'pretending to negotiate' with Ukraine amid war

As the conflict over Ukraine’s sovereignty entered its fourth week, a top French official has said that Russia was only "pretending to negotiate" with the Volodymyr Zelenskyy Administration. On Thursday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian called for peace and said that talks between the warring sides will primarily focus on ceasefire. “You don’t negotiate with a gun to your head,” the French lawmaker told Le Parisien.

His remarks came after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held a fourth round of negotiations on Monday. In the aftermath, Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that there was “some hope of reaching a compromise”. Notably, a drop in Ukraine’s bid to get NATO membership along with demilitarisation and a neutral status remains the prime demands of the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia drew up a tentative peace plan to end the war. According to a report by Kyiv Independent, the deal includes a ceasefire and Russian troop withdrawal if Kyiv renounces its bid to gain membership of NATO and accepts limits of its armed forces. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has softened his stance on Ukraine joining NATO. Speaking in London earlier this week, he said, “NATO has no intention of accepting us.”

Russian dealing with loss, call for reinforcements 

Meanwhile, the Russian troops have now reached as close as 15 kilometres from the centre of Kyiv. However, a report by the UK Ministry of Defence hinted that the Russian military was battered with excessive "personnel losses." As a result, Russians were calling in reinforcements from across the country as it “struggles to continue its attack,” British Intelligence stated in its latest report. As the war nears the end of the third week, UK officials believe that the Russian troops are facing numerous challenges including unfavourable terrain, 'personal losses,' amongst others. Earlier this week, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry claimed that they have killed nearly 7,000 Russian servicemen since the onset of the war. However, experts are of the opinion that numbers could be much higher. 

(Image: AP)