Russian President Vladimir Putin called the situation in Mariupol difficult and tragic.
“The situation there is difficult, and perhaps tragic. But it’s really simple. I just talked to the president today [Турции] Erdogan, he talked about the fact that there are hostilities. There are no fighting. They are finished. There are no hostilities in Mariupol, they have been stopped,” the Russian leader said at a meeting with UN Secretary General António Guterres in Moscow on April 26.
Putin also told Guterres that the Azovstal plant, where the remnants of nationalist formations had taken refuge, was “completely isolated.” “I gave the order not to carry out assault operations there. There is no fighting there.” The Russian leader stressed that if there are civilians at the enterprise, then the Ukrainian military must release them.
Guterres, in turn, said that the UN, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross ready to guarantee evacuation of people from Mariupol, and proposed the creation of a contact group of the UN, Russia and Ukraine on the organization of humanitarian corridors. “We are faced with a number of situations when Russia announces the creation of a corridor, Ukraine announces the creation of another corridor. The situation is such that this is not carried out in practice, ”said the Secretary General. Putin stressed that humanitarian corridors are operating, and the Secretary General misled. “130 or 140 thousand people left Mariupol. And they can go anywhere, we do not keep them, we provide assistance. The same can be done by civilians if they are at Azovstal,” he said.