Britain fears peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are “smoke and mirrors” and the war could still spread west, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss declared today.
Hopes of a breakthrough rose after Ukraine ’s President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted the door had closed for his country to join NATO, and said negotiations were getting more “realistic”.
But Ms Truss said she was “sceptical” about peace while Vladimir Putin was waging war on Ukraine.
And she warned the Russian President wants to “extend more broadly to other Eastern European states” in his bid to “recreate the Soviet Union”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s very difficult for the Ukrainians to negotiate with a gun against their heads.
“And I’m very very concerned that Putin is playing a smoke and mirrors game of trying to claim he is seeking peace whist at the same time continuing with this appalling war.”
Ms Truss said Putin’s actions had “shattered European security”, and “this isn’t just a threat to European security, it’s a threat to global security”.
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She said the issue of whether or not Ukraine joins NATO was a “smokescreen”.
She added: “This is about recreating a Greater Russia, and essentially subordinating Ukraine under Russian authority as well as extending more broadly to other Eastern European states.
“This is why it’s so important that we stop Putin in Ukraine. Because it isn’t just about Ukraine, it isn’t just about NATO, it’s about the desire to recreate the Soviet Union.
“He is clearly an extremely dangerous man and this is why we need to do all we can do debilitate the Russian economy through tough sanctions.”
Ukraine’s President Zelensky yesterday said: “Of course, Ukraine is not a member of NATO. For years we have been hearing about the alleged open door, but we have also heard now that we cannot enter.
“This is true, and it must be acknowledged.”
He added: “Meetings continue, and, I am informed, the positions during the negotiations already sound more realistic.
“But time is still needed for the decisions to be in the interests of Ukraine," Zelenskiy said in a video address ahead of the next round of talks.”
Speaking in the Gulf today, Boris Johnson said there is "no way Ukraine is going to join NATO anytime soon" but stressed that the decision had to be for the country's president to take.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace today said NATO leaders must see “what more we can do” to bolster Ukraine as alliance defence ministers held crunch talks at its HQ.
Speaking as he arrived in Brussels, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “We are very lucky that we are all part of a NATO alliance here.
“It’s luck and a privilege to be part of this amazing self-defence alliance that brings security to Europe and the North Atlantic, and I think coming here today we should also remind ourselves how lucky we are.
“There is Ukraine - a country apparently under siege by aggressive Russian armed forces - that’s why they wanted to join this alliance and we have to see what more we can do to give them that support, that’s really important.
“We have been very clear as NATO as an alliance - attack on one you attack us all, whether you are the biggest or the smallest country.”
Speaking to broadcasters at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, the Prime Minister said: "I talked to Volodymyr again yesterday and of course I understand what he is saying about Nato and the reality of the position, and everybody has always said - and we've made it clear toPutin - that there is no way Ukraine is going to join Nato anytime soon.
“But the decision about the future of Ukraine has got to be for the Ukrainian people, and Volodymyr Zelensky is their elected leader and we will back him.
"And the most important thing is that Putin's aggression, his absolutely barbaric attacks on Ukraine should stop and they should not be seen to have succeeded, and they won't succeed."
The former head of MI6 said that only China can influence Putin to stop his invasion into Ukraine.
Sir Alex Younger, former head of the Secret Intelligence Service from 2014 to 2020, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Of all the people in the world that can assert influence on Vladimir Putin, who is in his bunker and who is obsessed by achieving greatness through the restoration of the Russian Empire..., of all the people that can talk sense to him, it's Xi (Jinping, the Chinese leader).
"Vladimir Putin needs Xi and of course Xi while he feels he has to align himself at the high level with what Russia is doing because of their new alliance, must be deeply disturbed by what is going on."
He added that the situation in Ukraine is "seriously compounding the economic problems that China face" and carries a "huge reputational risk" for China if they continue to associate themselves with the "murderous activities in Ukraine".
He added: "Putin does not have a reverse gear. He gambled.
"He has hit extraordinary difficulties early on but he's going to keep going and he has to, because he went into this war with a false premise, and he needs to be seen to be bringing something back from it."
