The Russian side is open to negotiations with Ukraine's representatives and hopes that these talks will yield the desired results, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said during a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday.
While the French head of state expressed hope for the swift resolution of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine via dialogue and talks with Kiev, Putin pointed out that such a resolution would only be possible if Russia's legitimate security interests are taken into account, such as recognition of Russia's sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, as well as demilitarisation and denazification of the Ukrainian state and ensuring its neutral status.
Putin also stressed that Russian troops do not threaten civilians and do not conduct strikes against civilian targets in Ukraine.
"The threat comes from Ukrainian nationalists who use civilians as human shields, deliberately deploy offensive weapon systems in residential districts and intensify shelling of the cities in Donbass," the Kremlin's press service added.
Last week, Moscow launched a military operation in Ukraine after Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics asked Russia for assistance to defend themselves from attacks by Ukrainian troops.
The Russian government stated that the goal of this operation is to neutralise Ukraine's military capacity, with precision strikes being carried out against Ukrainian military infrastructure.