The leaders continued their discussion on the situation in Ukraine with a focus on the humanitarian aspects. Vladimir Putin shared the details on the logic and primary objectives of the special military operation launched to protect the Donbass people’s republics and the measures to ensure the safety of peaceful civilians. He also mentioned the fact that civilians held captive by the Ukrainian military at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol have been evacuated with the help of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. It was stressed that the militants professing the Nazi ideology continued engaging in gross violations of international humanitarian law and using inhuman terrorist methods. The Russian leader gave a principled assessment of the state of affairs at the Russian-Ukrainian talks, which in effect had been blocked by Kiev.
The President of Russia and the Federal Chancellor of Germany agreed that the debate on the said issues would be continued during contacts held via different channels.