Russian President Vladimir Putin is seriously concerned about ongoing bloodshed in the southeast of Ukraine. Putin urged the parties to the conflict in the Donbass to stop fighting, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"President Putin is highly concerned about the development of the situation in the Donbass against the backdrop of ongoing fighting and calls on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities and all violence," Peskov said, TASS reports.
President Putin remains a consistent supporter of the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. On January 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a letter to his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko. The letter contained Putin's suggestions to the regulation of the conflict in the Donbass. In particular, Putin offered the two sides of the conflict to withdraw heavy artillery. However, the Ukrainian side rejected the proposed plan and set forth a counter-proposal. As a result, the Ukrainian troops went on the offensive in the middle of January 2015.
Afterwards, Russian President Putin suggested Ukrainian conscripts could escape to Russia not to take part in the war against their own people, to stay alive and avoid the fate of cannon fodder.