Putin made ‘mistake’ sending ‘low-level’ team to Ukraine talks: NATO chief

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with Promsvyazbank CEO at the Kremlin. (File/AFP)
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TIRANA: NATO chief Mark Rutte said Vladimir Putin had made a “big mistake” sending a lower-rank Russian delegation to conduct Friday’s first direct peace talks with Ukraine in three years.
“He knows extremely well that the ball is in his court, that he is in trouble, that he made a big mistake by sending this low-level delegation,” Rutte told reporters at a gathering of European leaders in Tirana. “He has to be serious about wanting peace. So I think all the pressure is now on Putin.”