BISHKEK/MOSCOW/BRUSSELS – Russian President Vladimir Putin said negotiations on Ukraine had stalled, while dismissing reports that Russia would launch a new round of mobilization after the State Duma election as "nonsense."
Putin made the remarks at a press conference Tuesday night after attending a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, according to the Kremlin website. He said Russia supports negotiations based on concrete substance and would welcome any efforts that could make a practical contribution to ending the conflict.
Putin said Russia hopes to achieve a lasting and comprehensive peace in Ukraine and across Europe, adding that Moscow is ready to negotiate with anyone willing to participate. Russia respects the positions of countries that support a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
On battlefield developments, Putin said drones remain a major challenge for Russian forces. Despite difficulties, Putin said Russian troops are accelerating their offensive and advancing according to plan in the Donetsk region, where they took control of 15 settlements in August. He is confident of victory but avoids setting any concrete timeline for an end to the conflict, stressing that war is cruel and hard to forecast.
ALSO READ: Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia-controlled Luhansk region
Putin said any military facilities in Ukraine, including those linked to the United Kingdom, are legitimate targets for Russian strikes.
He also denied reports of a new mobilization effort to call up civilians for military service following the State Duma election later this month, dismissing such claims as an "information warfare" campaign against Russia.
'Arms-carrying cargo ship' in Black Sea
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had targeted a dry-cargo ship loaded with weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian forces in the Black Sea.
Group strikes were also carried out against two logistics facilities in the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv. Both sites were used to store and distribute military supplies for Ukrainian troops, according to the ministry.
The strikes were conducted using air-launched high-precision armaments and attack drones. The ministry said Russian forces keep targeting Ukrainian logistics infrastructure and vessels operating in the interests of the Ukrainian military.
The Ukrainian side has yet to respond to the statement.
Frozen Russian assets
Following an informal meeting with his European Union counterparts in Ireland, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said a renewed push by several EU member states to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine drew little enthusiasm from EU ministers.
Poland, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden sent a letter to the European Commission last week, calling on it to explore new ways of using frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia to support Ukraine.
Belgium's position on the issue has remained unchanged for a year, Prevot said, adding that the grounds for its opposition remained valid.
He warned that using the assets through a mechanism amounting to confiscation would entail significant risks.
READ MORE: 3 killed in Ukrainian drone strike in Russia's Belgorod region
According to the EU, around 210 billion euros ($243.36 billion) in Russian central bank assets are currently immobilized in the bloc, the vast majority of them held by Euroclear, a Brussels-based international central securities depository.
