Europe is ignoring Ukrainian war crimes, Russian President Vladimir Putin has charged in a phone call with European Union Council President Charles Michel, alleging mass shelling of Donbass settlements and other violations of international humanitarian law.
The Kremlin said Putin also complained in the "extensive" conversation that the leaders of many EU countries were fanning "Russophobia" on the continent with their actions.
Putin told Michel the goals of the "special military operation" - the terminology Russia uses for the invasion of its neighbour - was to protect ethnic Russians in the eastern Donbass region.
As for the situation at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Putin told Michel the Ukrainian defenders holed up there are guaranteed to make it out alive if they surrender.
"But the Kyiv regime is not allowing them to take this chance," Putin is said to have told Michel, according to the Kremlin.
The Ukrainian government ays Russian forces are barricading the sprawling complex and not allowing civilians who have been sheltering inside to leave.
