“Tell him I will thrash them,” told a reportedly irked Vladimir Putin to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich after he presented the Russian President with a handwritten note from Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “outlining the terms Kyiv would consider to end the month-long war with Moscow”.
The incident, according to a report by The Times, happened last week. Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, has been trying to act as a peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine. The Times reported that Abramovich is continuously flying between Istanbul, Moscow, and Kyiv to deliver messages between Putin and Zelenskyy.
The Russia-Ukraine war, which began on February 24, has shown no signs of de-escalation, and Putin’s remarks to Abramovich is a sign that Kremlin is not in a mood to end the hostilities against Kyiv. United States (US) intel officials, according to Reuters, have also said “Putin did not appear ready to make compromises to end the war”, and is looking to complete his objectives in Ukraine.
Here are the Latest Updates from the Russia-Ukraine war:
– US President Joe Biden on Monday (local time) said he would make “no apologies” and wasn’t “walking anything back” his remarks that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”.
“I’m not walking anything back,” Biden said at the White House. “I was expressing the moral outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing and the actions of this man.”
– Senior US State Department official has told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Putin is not ready to make compromises to end the war in Ukraine.
“Everything I have seen is he is not willing to compromise at this point,” the official said. “So, how far we go in trying to offer him off-ramps that undercut the sovereignty of Ukraine and the decisions that (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelinskiy would have to make, I don’t have a good insight for you.”
