Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that an agreement would ultimately need to be struck to end fighting in Ukraine, nine months after the Kremlin launched its “special military operation” there.
Trust between Russia and the West, however, is almost at zero, Mr Putin told a summit of regional leaders in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
“I have said many times that we are ready for these agreements [to end the war] and we are open [to them],” he added.
Mr Putin's comments came in response to remarks from former German chancellor Angela Merkel about the Minsk agreements, negotiated with Paris and Berlin to end fighting between Russia and Ukraine.
Ms Merkel told Die Zeit newspaper that the 2014 accords were an “attempt to give Ukraine time” and that Kyiv had used it “to become stronger”.
Mr Putin said that he was “disappointed” by Ms Merkel's comments and added that he had “always assumed that the government of Germany was acting honestly”.
“After such statements, the question becomes: how can we agree? And is there anyone to agree with? What are the guarantees?” Mr Putin asked.
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure in a phone call on Friday.
Downing Street said that Mr Zelenskyy, whose wife visited London last month, “thanked the UK for its crucial support to help restore power through the supply of generators”.
Mr Sunak also made a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet Mr Zelenskyy in November.
A representative said the Prime Minister paid tribute to the “success” of the efforts of Ukraine's armed forces to intercept Russian missiles, with Mr Sunak assuring the Ukrainian leader that the “UK was thinking of the Ukrainian people as they continued to defend their country through the winter”.
“Updating on the latest lethal aid deliveries from the UK, the Prime Minister said that more anti-air guns and further short-range air defence missiles would arrive in the coming weeks,” the representative said.
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The coffin of Valeriy Krasnyan is brought out of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv. Getty Images -
Repairmen work near a residential building damaged following a missile attack in Vyshgorod, outside of Kyiv. AFP -
An elderly man walks in front of a residential building damaged following a missile attack in Vyshgorod. AFP -
A boy kisses a dog while he charges his phone at the heating tent dubbed a Point of Invincibly in Bucha, Ukraine. AP -
A couple uses a laptop in the heating tent. AP -
Workers dig out a tire from the rubble of a destroyed storage building at a grain processing center so they can use it for repairs in Siversk, Donetsk region. Reuters -
The Chernihiv region found itself on the frontline of Russia's invasion in February, when Moscow's forces were attempting to quickly seize Kyiv. Getty -
Russia ultimately retreated from northern Ukraine to focus its attack on the east and south. Getty -
The city of Chernihiv on November 28, 2022 in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Getty -
A worker fits in new windows of a building in Chernihiv. Getty -
People receive food from AFAT - Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency in Chernihiv. Getty -
The people Chernihiv queue up for hot food. Getty -
Oleksandr Antonenko stands on a balcony of his apartment damaged by a recent Russian military strike in Kherson. Reuters -
Mr Antonenko and his mother Liudmyla inside their apartment recently damaged by a Russian military strike in Kherson. Reuters -
A woman walks in an underpass in Kyiv, on November 26, 2022. AFP -
Friends hug after the arrival of a train in the southern city of Kherson. Getty -
Residents sort through donated clothing at an aid centre in Kherson. Getty -
A Ukrainian soldier stands with a machinegun near Liman in the Donetsk region. AP -
Children attend a physical education class at Spilno School in Kyiv. Getty -
A woman embraces her friend, a soldier in the Ukrainian army, in Kherson. AFP -
Residents inspect a crater left by a Russian military strike in the village of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters -
Resident Tetiana Reznychenko walks past a work by world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy, on the wall of a destroyed building in the Ukrainian village of Horenka. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. AP -
A fisherman sails his boat on the Dnipro as black smoke rises from an oil reserve in Kherson. AFP
“Both leaders agreed on the importance of pre-empting Russia's insincere calls for a ceasefire and the Prime Minister added that the Kremlin needed to withdraw its forces before any agreement could be considered.”
Meanwhile, in a sign of Russia's clampdown on public dissent, a Moscow court sentenced opposition politician Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in prison on charges of spreading “false information” about the army.
In a YouTube video, Mr Yashin had discussed evidence uncovered by Western journalists of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. In a post on his Telegram channel, Mr Yashin urged supporters to continue opposing the war.
Moscow has denied committing any war crimes.
In Ukraine, the fiercest fighting was near the eastern towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, Donetsk region's governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a television interview. Five civilians were killed and two wounded in Ukrainian-controlled parts of Donetsk over the previous day, he said early on Friday.
“The entire front line is being shelled,” he said and added that Russian troops were also trying to advance near Lyman, which was recently recaptured by Ukrainian forces.
