Russian President Vladimir Putin is pleading for “no more sanctions” against his regime, claiming that Russia has no “ill intentions” towards Ukraine, despite his continuous assault on Ukrainian civilians.
“I want to emphasize once again. We have no ill intentions towards our neighbors, and I would advise them not to escalate the situation, nor to introduce any restrictions,” Putin said on the state-controlled Rossiya 24 news channel on Friday, according to Newsweek.
The Russian dictator also called on neighboring countries “to think about how to normalize relations.”
“All our actions, if they arise, always arise exclusively in response to unfriendly actions against Russia,” he said. “We do not see any need here to escalate the situation or worsen our relations.”
Putin’s comments come more than a week after he ordered an invasion that has caused numerous casualties and sparked a growing refugee crisis.
His remarks also come hours after Russian forces attacked and seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s biggest power plant, sparking outrage from the international community.
The U.S. embassy in Ukraine tweeted that attacking a nuclear power plant constitutes a “war crime.”
Read the full report on Newsweek.
