Ukraine: France-Gb, Putin continues to prevaricate, give US an answer

Brussels, 4 Apr (LaPresse/AP) – The United Kingdom and France have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of prevaricating in ceasefire talks to end fighting in Ukraine and increased pressure on Moscow by insisting it owes the United States an immediate response. Russia effectively rejected a US proposal for a complete and immediate 30-day suspension of fighting after a Kremlin official said Monday that Moscow views efforts to end its three-year war with Ukraine as ‘an exhausting process.’ ‘Our judgement is that Putin continues to muddle through, continues to tergiversate,’ British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at Nato headquarters at a press point with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity, with the two countries helping to lead the “coalition of the willing” to set up a force to oversee any future peace in Ukraine.