Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is ready for talks with Ukraine on the condition that it accepts “new regional realities”.

In a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Putin “repeatedly said that Russia is open to serious negotiations – to comply with the well-known and repeatedly expressed demands of the authorities in Kyiv, and to take into account new regional realities, according to a statement from the Kremlin.

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Released prisoners

The first group of Russian prisoners has been granted an amnesty and released for agreeing to fight in Ukraine, Wagner, head of the paramilitary group, announced on Thursday.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a sulfur tycoon known to be close to President Vladimir Putin with whom he has been closely involved since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, appeared in a video with blurred faces.

“You worked until the end of your contract. You have worked with dignity, with dignity,” he said in the video broadcast by Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

He called on Russian society to “treat with great respect” these men who fought for their freedom for six months.

“Don’t drink too much, don’t do drugs, don’t rape women, don’t do stupid things,” said Mr. Prigozhin, an ex-convict turned businessman, can still be heard telling them.

The fighters of the Wagner group are especially at the forefront of the battle for Bagmouth, a city that Russian forces have been trying to capture without success since the summer, and which has become the site of heavy losses and destruction on both sides.

Before the conflict in Ukraine, Wagner’s mercenaries were found in Syria, Libya and even several African countries.