Western leaders have calledVladimir Putin to a negotiation table for ending the war in Ukraine with the condition of withdrawing all Russian troops. This offer has been consistently refused by the Kremlin.
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Call for negotiations
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington for the first state visit of the Biden Administration.
In a joint press conference, Biden brought up his willingness to meet with Vladimir Putin if he first would withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine, Politico reports.
‘[I am] prepared to speak with Mr. Putin if in fact there is an interest in him deciding he’s looking for a way to end the war. If that’s the case, in consultation with my French and my NATO friends, I’ll be happy to sit down with Putin to see what he wants, has in mind.’
In spite of that, Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Russian President is open to negotiations but rejected the western condition for leaving Ukraine.
‘The special military operation is continuing.’
Read more: Vladimir Putin: Russian politicians from his regime have been making terrifying threats on state TV
New ban in Russia?
In parallel, during the past week, a report from a Russian media outlet suggested a new ban was introduced to prevent male governmental administration employees from leaving the country.
The alleged ban comes after various sources have suggested that as many as 700,000 people have fled Russia since the start of Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation order.
The Daily Beast has cited the Russian news outlet Baza which, in a Telegram post, has claimed that Russia’s Presidential Administration has banned staffers from taking business trips and vacations abroad. The post additionally said:
According to Baza, the Presidential Administration issued an order that from now on only women can go on business trips abroad. Such rules will be in effect until the issuance of a “special order on mobilization” (what kind of order this was, “Baza” could not find out). Holidays abroad, which until recently were undesirable, are now also prohibited.
The alleged ban was placed after a member of the staff took a leave abroad and never returned.
These claims have all been turned down by Dmitry Peskov. He told Ria Novosti:
‘There are no (restrictions - ed.). This is a real lie.’
Read more: Vladimir Putin: Unknown details of the regime's plan to seize Ukraine revealed in Russian documents
Sources used:
-Politico: ‘Russia rejects Biden’s conditions for Ukraine talks’
-Reuters: ‘Factbox: Where have Russians been fleeing to since mobilisation began?’
-TheDailyBeast: 'Explosive Leak of ‘Presidential Lockdown Order’ Roils Kremlin'
-Baza: ‘Male employees of the Presidential Administration are temporarily banned from going on trips abroad
-RiaNovosti: 'Peskov denied reports of a travel ban for administration employees'
