Joe Biden said Putin is ready to bomb hospitals, kindergartens and churches on December 25.
Washington:
US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s order on an Orthodox Christmas two-day truce in Ukraine was simply an attempt to find breathing room for his war effort. he.
“He’s ready to bomb hospitals, daycares and churches” on December 25 and on New Year’s Day, Biden said, adding: “I think he’s trying to find some oxygen.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price called Putin’s ceasefire “sceptical,” saying, “We have little confidence in the intent behind this announcement.”
He expressed concern that Russia would use the break to “regroup, rest and finally strike again” and said Putin could seek to “fool the world” by pretending to that he wants peace.
“This doesn’t seem to be a game changer,” he said.
“If Russia is really serious about peace, about ending this war, they will withdraw their forces from the sovereign territory of Ukraine.”
The United States also accused the Wagner Corporation – a group of mercenaries close to Putin that is under US sanctions – for claiming it coordinated the release of the first group of Russian prisoners to accept amnesty in exchange for war. fighting in Ukraine.
Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared in a video talking to a group of men – some with injuries and blurred faces.
“We would consider it just a barbaric tactic,” said Price, predicting that many prisoners would die on the front lines.
“Even if there are tens of thousands of forces that could be under Wagner’s control – under Mr. Prigozhin’s control – these are not forces that can change the course of war. These are not war-changing forces. forces that can be trained,” says Price.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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