On Saturday evening, 29 July, the President of the aggressor country, Russia, Vladimir Putin, made statements about the war in Ukraine. Among other things, he said that he "does not consider it his business to command the troops".

"It is impossible to receive news from the front line every hour, we need special communications," the dictator explained. He said this at a press conference following the Russia-Africa summit (to watch the video, scroll to the bottom of the page).

According to Putin, although he does not receive reports on the war against Ukraine on a regular basis, he is in touch with the Russian Defence Ministry several times a day.

Putin has made it clear that he is not going to end the war himself, saying that Russia "cannot cease fire when it is being attacked".

"The provisions of the African peace initiative on Ukraine are being implemented, such as the exchange of prisoners and humanitarian issues. But a number of points from the African initiative are difficult to implement, for example, a ceasefire, Ukraine is under attack, and it is difficult to address us in this situation," the leader of the aggressor country said.

At the same time, he reiterated that Russia had not allegedly abandoned peace talks.

The dictator was also asked about Turkey's decision to return the commanders of Azovstal's defenders to Ukraine. Here, he was not very vocal.

"There was an agreement, there will be no other comments," the Russian head of state replied.

Later, he began to justify himself in response to journalists' questions and said that the Azov soldiers were exchanged for Russian pilots when it was in Russia's interests.

Putin said that after the new "cotton" he had received proposals to protect the Crimean bridge, and "when they work, it will be seen".

"After the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, the Russian Armed Forces launched a series of preventive strikes on places where the Ukrainian Armed Forces were preparing to attack with drones," he also said.

Read what Putin said about the grain deal during this press conference here.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused our country and its Western allies of "refusing to negotiate". He said that Russia is allegedly "open to negotiations" and believes that this is the only way to "resolve differences".

Only verified information is available in our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!