MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has held another phone call with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, the second one in a week, the Kremlin press service said in a statement on Saturday.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin and Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel have held a telephone conversation, initiated by Luxembourg. In a continuation of their previous call, the parties discussed the situation in Ukraine and Donbass with regard to Russia’s special military operation," the statement reads.
Putin and Bettel held their previous conversation on March 14, with the Russian leader briefing Luxembourg’s prime minister on the situation around Russia’s special military operation in Donbass and talks with Ukraine. On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country.
Putin highlighted the danger of the United States’ military biological activities in Ukraine in a phone call with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, the Kremlin press service said in a statement on Saturday. "It was also pointed out that the United States’ military biological activities in Ukraine are unacceptable and pose a great danger both to Russia and the entire Europe," the statement reads.
On March 16, Putin said that Moscow believed activities aimed at creating components for biological weapons had taken place in Ukraine. In late 2015, Putin approved Russia’s National Security Strategy, which mentioned the United States’ efforts to expand the network of its military biological laboratories in Russia’s neighboring countries and emphasized "uncertainty concerning other countries’ ownership of biological weapons and their ability to develop and produce them.".
Ukrainian military’s shelling
Putin in a phone call told Bettel about civilian casualties in the Ukrainian military’s shelling of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR). "Vladimir Putin pointed to the Ukrainian military’s ongoing shelling attacks on Donetsk and other cities in the DPR and LPR, which are causing numerous civilian casualties," the statement reads.
Bettel, in turn, briefed Putin on his contacts with the Ukrainian authorities and the leaders of some other countries. "Vladimir Putin clarified Russia’s view of the course of talks with Ukraine," the Kremlin press service added.