Putin sets out his key demands to halt invasion
Moscow calls for independence in rebel regions, and ban on Nato or EU
THE Kremlin yesterday offered its terms for a peace deal with Ukraine on a day when Vladimir Putin’s invasion again remained bogged down.
After 12 days of intense fighting, the Russian president’s spokesman claimed the war could be halted “in a moment” if Kyiv agreed to Moscow’s demands.
Opponents of Mr Putin said the offer was a climbdown on the Russian’s president’s call to “de-nazify” Ukraine and showed his war had been a “failure”.
Russian troops continued to suffer heavy losses and had failed to gain air superiority, while a 40-mile armoured convoy north of Kyiv remained stalled and open to counter-attack.
In contrast to Mr Putin’s refusal to recognise Ukraine’s right to exist, Dmitry Peskov, his spokesman, yesterday accepted the country was an “independent state” and laid out the most explicit terms yet for a ceasefire.
That included Ukraine recognising Moscow’s right to rule Crimea and the independence of the two Russian-held separatist regions in the east of the country. The Kremlin is also demanding that Kyiv remains neutral and does not join either Nato or the European Union.
Senior sources inside the British Government said the deal should be treated with “scepticism” amid fears that the Kremlin was setting a trap as a prelude to further bombardment of Ukraine cities.
A third round of talks held in Belarus failed to reach agreement last night. Ukraine said there had been some “small positive” progress on the establishment of humanitarian corridors, while a Kremlin aide said the talks had “failed to live up to our expectations”.
Russia was again accused yesterday of preventing the evacuation of civilians in besieged cities including Mariupol, with Ukraine claiming the invaders were shelling escape routes.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister described the offer of safe passage leading to Russia or Belarus, rather than western Ukraine, as “absurd”.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, will today address the House of Commons by video link in a further show of the West’s support for his government. Mr Zelensky could repeat his call for the UK and other Western countries to establish a no-fly zone – something Mr Johnson has ruled out because it would mean shooting down Russian planes.
However, The Daily Telegraph has learnt that the UK is drawing up plans to give weapons to the Ukrainian forces for months or even years after any Russian victory to form a “resistance” movement inside the country.
Boris Johnson has said that a ban on Russian oil is “on the table” after pledging to increase Britain’s fossil fuel production in an effort to cut reliance on the Putin regime.
Yesterday, Mr Johnson held talks with Joe Biden, the US president, and Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, France and Germany’s leaders, in which they said any negotiations on Ukraine’s future “would have to put the needs and wishes of Ukrainians first”.
A Downing Street spokesman said last night: “The leaders condemned Russia’s barbaric action and expressed [solidarity] with the people of Ukraine. The Prime Minister stressed that our goal must be ensuring Putin’s failure in this act of aggression against Ukraine.”
Growing evidence of Mr Putin’s frustration came yesterday when it emerged he had been trying to recruit Syrian mercenaries, offering them $200 to $300 a day to join his faltering invasion.