"The Kiev regime, already illegitimate, is degenerating into a terrorist organization," Russian President Vladimir Putin said, quoted by the Tass agency, after the attacks on trains on the night between Saturday and Sunday, which Moscow attributed to the Ukrainians. The attacks, Putin added, were aimed at derailing the Istanbul negotiations .
This is also why the Russian president has so far declined Zelensky's offer, which had proposed a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders preceded by a ceasefire. "We are ready to meet immediately," the Ukrainian leader said. "Why a ceasefire before the meeting? Because we will meet and if there is no agreement, no desire to de-escalate and no idea how to end it, then the ceasefire will end on the same day. If we realize that we can continue the dialogue and are ready to take appropriate measures for de-escalation, then we will continue the ceasefire. With American monitoring and American guarantees of mediation."
But Putin, in light of the train attacks, said that holding a summit with Zelensky would be equivalent to "negotiating with terrorists." "How can such meetings be held under these conditions? What can we talk about?" Putin asked, quoted by Tass. "Who negotiates with those who rely on terror? With terrorists?" And there is no question of a ceasefire either: "Why should they be encouraged by granting a truce in military operations that will be used to supply the regime with Western weapons, to continue forced mobilization and preparation for other terrorist acts similar to those perpetrated in the Bryansk and Kursk regions?" Putin said.
On the night between Saturday and Sunday, two attacks caused the collapse of two bridges in the Bryansk and Kursk regions. In the first case, a passenger train was hit, resulting in seven deaths and over a hundred injuries. In the second, a freight train was hit.
Russian investigators claim that both collapses were caused by explosions and that the attacks were "without a doubt organized by Ukrainian secret services."
(Unioneonline/L)