Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict in Ukraine during bilateral meetings with leaders of India, China, South Africa and Egypt in Kazan, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with a Russian TV channel.
"Ukraine was under discussion during yesterday’s bilateral conversations the president held with foreign leaders. As a rule, the Ukrainian crisis is present on the agenda of each meeting. The president gives clear assessments of the current situation and prospects for resolution," Peskov said.
He added that, among other things, Putin informed his colleagues of the achievements of the Russian army at the front and about Kiev’s reluctance to negotiate.
"We welcome such efforts. But then we need to see what comes of it," the Kremlin spokeman concluded.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Russian Zapad battlegroup had liberated Novosadovoye settlement in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). The ministry pointed out that the Zapad battlegroup also inflicted losses on personnel and equipment of three Ukrainian brigades in the areas of Novoyegorovka in the Kharkov region, Ternov, Torskoye and Krasny Liman in the DPR, and repelled a counterattack by an assault group of the 14th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.