Live blog: Kremlin claims Putin 'open' to solving conflict 'by other means'

Saturday, June 3, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "open" to "achieving goals" in Ukraine by other means than military, the Kremlin has claimed.

Commenting on reports about France's initiative to host a peace summit on Ukraine, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TV channel Rossiya 24 that peaceful ways of achieving goals in Ukraine would be "preferable."

"President Putin has been, is, and will be open to any contacts in order to achieve the fulfillment of our tasks by other means than military operation. If (non-military ways) were possible, it would be preferable," he said.

He added that French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders have to be aware of this position.

At the same time, he added: “The countries of the collective West do not leave Russia any other path but military at the moment."

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1511 GMT — Unreliable shelters raise fears over civilian safety in Ukraine

Concerns around civilian safety have spiked in Ukraine as officials announced that an inspection had found nearly a quarter of the country’s air-raid shelters locked or unusable, just days after a woman in Kiev allegedly died waiting outside a shuttered shelter during a Russian missile barrage.

The Kiev regional prosecutor’s office reported that four people were detained in a criminal probe into the 33-year-old’s death on Thursday outside the locked shelter.

The suspects face up to eight years in prison for official negligence that led to a person’s death.

Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko also said that city authorities have received “more than a thousand" complaints regarding locked, dilapidated or insufficient air-raid shelters within a day of launching an online feedback service.

The Ukrainian interior ministry said through its press service that of “over 4,800” shelters it had inspected, 252 were locked and a further 893 “unfit for use.”

1307 GMT — Two killed in shelling of Russian region on Ukraine border

Ukrainian shelling has killed two people in Russia's Belgorod, a border region that has been hit by repeated attacks this week, the local governor said.

"Since this morning, the district of Shebekino has been under shelling of the Ukrainian armed forces," said Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. Russian officials have in recent days reported intensified attacks from northern Ukraine.

Gladkov said an "elderly woman" was killed in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka and another woman died from her wounds in the village of Bezlyudovka. Two other people were wounded in the shelling.

The Shebekino area has been the hardest hit by the shelling, and residents from the area have been pouring into displacement centres in the regional capital of Belgorod.

1152 GMT — Ukraine dismisses 'strange' Indonesian peace plan

Ukraine's defence minister has dismissed a plan proposed by his Indonesian counterpart to end the war between Kiev and Moscow, calling it a "strange" proposal.

Oleksii Reznikov, attending the two-day Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore, flatly rejected the proposal.

"It sounds like a Russian plan, not Indonesian plan," he said. "We don't need this mediator coming to us (with) this strange plan."

0747 GMT — Counter-offensive on track despite Russian missile barrages

Ukraine's plans for a counteroffensive against Russian occupation remain on track, its deputy defence minister has said, despite an "unprecedented" wave of missile and drone attacks across the country in recent weeks.

Volodymyr V. Havrylov said that alongside cruise missile strikes, Ukraine had faced repeated volleys of ballistic missiles in May, especially in urban centres including the capital.

"Their primary goal is to stop our counter-offensive and target decision-making centres," he said on the sidelines of Asia's top security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Havrylov called Russia's heavy use of ballistic missiles in May a "last strategic resort" and noted that his country's air defence systems had been "more than 90 percent effective" against the attacks.

0620 GMT — Ukraine ready to launch counteroffensive: Zelenskyy

Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-controlled territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview published.

"We strongly believe that we will succeed," Zelenskyy told the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. "I don't know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready."

Kiev hopes a counteroffensive to reclaim territory will change the dynamics of the war that has raged since Russia began its military offensive against its smaller neighbour 15 months ago.

0501 GMT — Indonesia proposes demilitarised zone, UN referendum

Indonesia's defence minister proposed a peace plan for the conflict in Ukraine, calling for a demilitarised zone and a United Nations referendum in what he called disputed territory.

Prabowo Subianto called on defence and military officials from around the globe gathered at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence meeting in Singapore to issue a declaration calling for a cessation of hostilities.

He proposed a multi-point plan including a ceasefire "in place at present positions of both conflicting parties" and establishing a demilitarised zone by withdrawing 15 kilometres (nearly 10 miles) from each party's forward position.

For our live updates from Friday (June 2), click here.