MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told the leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) on Wednesday that it was necessary to think about how to stop “the tragedy” of the war in Ukraine.

Addressing G20 leaders for the first time since the start of the war, the Kremlin chief said some leaders had said in their speeches that they were shocked by the ongoing “aggression” of Russia in Ukraine.

“Yes, of course, military actions are always a tragedy,” Putin told the virtual G20 meeting called by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“And of course, we should think about how to stop this tragedy,” Putin said. “By the way, Russia has never refused peace talks with Ukraine.”

Putin used the word “war” to describe the conflict instead of the current Kremlin term of “special military operation”.

“I understand that this war, and the death of people, cannot but shock,” Putin said, before setting out the Russian case that Ukraine had persecuted people in eastern Ukraine.

About 14,000 people were killed there between 2014 and the end of 2021, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, including 3,106 civilians.

The West and Ukraine have repeatedly vowed to defeat Russia in the war and to eject Russian forces, though the failure of a Ukrainian counteroffensive to achieve any real gains this year has raised concerns in the West over the strategy.

 

Ukraine Troops Face 

‘Difficult Defense’

 

On Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian troops face “difficult” defensive operations on parts of the eastern front with bitter winter cold setting in, but forces in the south are still conducting offensive actions, Russian troops launched offensives on different sections of the front line in Ukraine’s east this autumn, trying to advance on the devastated town of Avdiivka and in the northeast between the towns of Lyman and Kupiansk.

“Difficult weather, difficult defense on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Donetsk and Avdiivka fronts. Offensive actions in the south,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram messenger.

Snow and freezing temperatures that stood at about minus 5 degrees Celsius during the day on Wednesday and were expected to drop lower may further complicate operations on the battleground, where fighting is moving to an attritional phase.