President Vladimir Putin has sought proposals from the commanders of his armed forces on how they think Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine should proceed during a visit to the operation’s headquarters, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

In video footage released by the Kremlin, Putin presidedat a meeting of around a dozen people at a circular table, flanked by defence minister Sergei Shoigu and military chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov.

Putin was then shown at the head of another conference table at the joint taskforce headquarters, inviting suggestions from a number of military commanders.

“We will listen to the commanders in each operational direction, and I would like to hear your proposals on our immediate and medium-term actions,” Putin said.

Air Force General SergeiSurovikin, the overall commander of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, was also shown attending the meetings in still photographs on the Kremlin website. Putin spent the whole of Friday at the task force headquarters.