KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia is ready for talks to end\u00a0the war in Ukraine\u00a0even as the country faced more attacks from Moscow \u2014 a clear sign that peace wasn\u2019t imminent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin said in a state television interview, excerpts of which were released on Sunday afternoon that Russia is \u201cprepared to negotiate some acceptable outcomes with all the participants of this process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that \u201cit\u2019s not us who refuse talks, it\u2019s them\u201d \u2014 something the Kremlin has repeatedly stated in recent months as its 10-month old invasion kept losing momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin also repeated that Moscow has \u201cno other choice\u201d and said he believed the Kremlin was \u201cacting in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin\u2019s remarks come as attacks on Ukraine continue. A country-wide air raid alert was announced twice on Sunday alone, and three missiles in the afternoon hit the city of Kramatorsk in the partially occupied Donetsk region, local officials reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The missiles hit an industrial area of the city, and there weren\u2019t any casualties, according to the Ukrainian governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko. Kyrylenko said that the city of Avdiivka was also attacked on Sunday with six rounds of shelling, and a woman was wounded there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere in the front-line region, around the city of Bakhmut, where fierce battles have been underway in recent weeks, the Russian forces were struggling to keep up the pace of their offensive, a U.S.-based think tank reported this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussian forces\u2019 rate of advance in the Bakhmut area has likely slowed in recent days, although it is too early to assess whether the Russian offensive to capture Bakhmut has culminated,\u201d the Institute for the Study of War wrote in its recent update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The think tank cited Russian military bloggers, who it said have recently acknowledged \u201cthat Ukrainian forces in the Bakhmut area have managed to slightly slow down the pace of the Russian advance around Bakhmut and its surrounding settlements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources on Ukrainian social media \u201cpreviously claimed that Ukrainian forces completely pushed Russian forces out of the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut\u201d around Dec. 21, the report added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussian forces will likely struggle to maintain the pace of their offensive operations in the Bakhmut area and may seek to initiate a tactical or operational pause,\u201d the institute concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A day before,\u00a0a deadly Russian attack on the southern city of Kherson, retaken by Ukrainian forces last month, killed and wounded scores of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russian forces shelled Ukrainian-held areas of the partially occupied Kherson region 71 times over the past 24 hours, including 41 attacks on the city of Kherson, the region\u2019s Ukrainian governor Yaroslav Yanushevich reported on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A total of 16 people have been killed, according to the official, including three emergency workers killed in the process of demining the Berislav district of the region. Yanushevich said that 64 more have been wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, the city of Nikopol was shelled overnight from heavy artillery, Gov. Valentyn Reznichenko said. No casualties have been reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The missiles hit an industrial area of the city, and there weren\u2019t any casualties, according to the Ukrainian governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko. Kyrylenko said that the city of Avdiivka was also attacked on Sunday with six rounds of shelling, and a woman was wounded there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere in the front-line region, around the city of Bakhmut, where fierce battles have been underway in recent weeks, the Russian forces were struggling to keep up the pace of their offensive, a U.S.-based think tank reported this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussian forces\u2019 rate of advance in the Bakhmut area has likely slowed in recent days, although it is too early to assess whether the Russian offensive to capture Bakhmut has culminated,\u201d the Institute for the Study of War wrote in its recent update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The think tank cited Russian military bloggers, who it said have recently acknowledged \u201cthat Ukrainian forces in the Bakhmut area have managed to slightly slow down the pace of the Russian advance around Bakhmut and its surrounding settlements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources on Ukrainian social media \u201cpreviously claimed that Ukrainian forces completely pushed Russian forces out of the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut\u201d around Dec. 21, the report added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussian forces will likely struggle to maintain the pace of their offensive operations in the Bakhmut area and may seek to initiate a tactical or operational pause,\u201d the institute concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A day before,\u00a0a deadly Russian attack on the southern city of Kherson, retaken by Ukrainian forces last month, killed and wounded scores of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russian forces shelled Ukrainian-held areas of the partially occupied Kherson region 71 times over the past 24 hours, including 41 attacks on the city of Kherson, the region\u2019s Ukrainian governor Yaroslav Yanushevich reported on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A total of 16 people have been killed, according to the official, including three emergency workers killed in the process of demining the Berislav district of the region. Yanushevich said that 64 more have been wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, the city of Nikopol was shelled overnight from heavy artillery, Gov. Valentyn Reznichenko said. No casualties have been reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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