Putin slams growing Western arms deliveries to Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin on Monday slammed Kyiv's “destructive” policies and growing Western arms supplies to Ukraine in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said.

Putin said Kyiv was pursuing “a destructive line” and that it had “bet on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors, who are ramping up supplies of weapons and military equipment,” the Kremlin said.

He also accused Kyiv of rejecting his offer to halt fighting on Christmas Day which is marked on January 7 in Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine at the time dismissed the halt as a Russian ploy to gain time to regroup forces.