Putin warns West about providing Ukraine arms

Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning that more military aid for Ukraine would further destabilize the situation and aggravate the humanitarian crisis.

The Kremlin said Putin made his comments during a three-way telephone call with the French and German leaders on Saturday in which he warned against the continued transfers of Western weapons to Ukraine and blamed the conflict’s disruption to global food supplies on Western sanctions.

Putin told Macron and Scholz that continuing arms supplies to Ukraine was “dangerous”, and he warned “of the risks of further destabilisation of the situation and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis”, the Kremlin said.

During the 80-minute call, Macron and Scholz in return urged an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine and a withdrawal of Russian troops from the country, according to the German chancellor’s spokesperson.

In addition, Macron and Scholz urged Putin to lift the blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. Putin reportedly said that Moscow is ready to help find options for unhampered exports of grain, including exports of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports.

Putin insisted that sanctions against Russia should be lifted to prevent a global food crisis.

Russian forces are trying to besiege Severodonetsk, which is seen as Ukraine’s last stronghold in the Luhansk region.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed on Saturday that its military is in full control of Lyman, a strategic railway hub in the neighboring Donetsk region. It’s about 40 kilometers west of Severodonetsk.

Britain’s defense ministry says Russian forces could use Lyman as a foothold to make their way toward Severodonetsk.