Russia-Ukraine peace talks a ‘smokescreen’ for war crimes

Russia is using peace talks with Ukraine as a “smokescreen” while it prepares to carry out more “appalling atrocities” and war crimes, the foreign secretary has warned.

Liz Truss said she was “very sceptical” about the talks, which she viewed as a standard part of Russia’s “playbook”.

In an interview with The Times she said: “I mean, if a country is serious about negotiations, it doesn’t indiscriminately bomb civilians that day.” President Putin will resort to “worse and worse” methods as his progress in Ukraine continues to falter, Truss added.

“We’ve seen the use of indiscriminate tactics already. And, of course, we need to prepare for all eventualities,” she said.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have reported progress in peace talks. Nato leaders including President Biden are expected to discuss plans to guarantee any settlement at a summit in Brussels next week.

In other developments:

• Biden and President Xi of China held two hours of talks last night. The White House gave warning of “implications and consequences” if Beijing provided material support for Russia.
• President Putin appeared at a rally at a Moscow stadium yesterday, praising his country’s troops on the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.
• Russian troops have reached the city centre of Mariupol and “temporarily” deprived Ukraine of access to the Sea of Azov, according to Ukrainian officials.
• A Russian missile attack near Lviv airport raised fears of the war spreading to western Ukraine.

Boris Johnson offered his support yesterday for Ukraine’s position in negotiations during a call with President Zelensky of Ukraine.

Last night Zelensky repeated his calls for peace talks “without delay”. He said in a video address: “This is the time to meet, to talk, time for renewing territorial integrity and fairness for Ukraine... Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such, that several generations will not recover.”

Truss believes that Russia is not serious about negotiations. “I’m very sceptical,” she said. “What we’ve seen is an attempt to create space for the Russians to regroup. Their invasion isn’t going to plan. We don’t see any serious withdrawal of Russian troops or any serious proposals on the table.

 “The Russians have lied and lied and lied. I fear the negotiation is yet another attempt to create a diversion and create a smokescreen from the appalling [atrocities] . . . I mean, if a country is serious about negotiations, it doesn’t indiscriminately bomb civilians that day . . . But of course, Ukraine as a sovereign nation is fully entitled to undertake any negotiation process it sees fit.”

Truss also said that sanctions on Russian oligarchs were likely to be permanent. She could not see a situation in which Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, was allowed to set foot in Britain again.

Russia is continuing to “reset” its forces as it attempts renewed offensive operations, particularly around Kyiv, according to western officials. The need to reinforce troops and equipment comes after as many as 7,000 Russian troops have been killed, according to US estimates, and billions of pounds worth of equipment has been blown up.

In the latest high-level casualty, a Russian paratroop commander was killed, according to state TV in Moscow. Colonel Sergei Sukharev, of the 331st Guards Parachute Assault Regiment, from Kostroma, and his deputy, Major Sergei Krylov, died on Thursday.

Britain’s chief of defence intelligence said that Russia had embarked on a deadly war of attrition. Lieutenant General Sir Jim Hockenhull said: “The Kremlin has so far failed to achieve its original objectives. It has been surprised by the scale and ferocity of Ukrainian resistance and has been bedevilled with problems of its own making.

“Russia is now pursuing a strategy of attrition. This will involve the reckless and indiscriminate use of firepower. This will result in increased civilian casualties, destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, and intensify the humanitarian crisis.”

Western officials believe that Russia has enough firepower to carry out “weeks-long” intense bombardment of Ukrainian cities. “They could mount an artillery bombardment for a very, very considerable period of time,” one official said. “I think that probably feels like it goes into weeks. Depending on the intensity . . . then the ammunition supplies could be stretched out for a longer period of time. But those bombardments could be very intense.”

Speaking at the Scottish Conservative conference in Aberdeen, Johnson pledged more weapons for Ukraine.

Moscow police said that more than 200,000 people were in and around the Luzhniki stadium for the Crimea rally. The event featured patriotic songs. Seeking to portray the war as just, Putin paraphrased the Bible to say of Russia’s troops: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Fighting has reached the centre of the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, where a theatre sheltering hundreds of people was bombed on Wednesday. One hundred and thirty people were rescued from the rubble but there appeared to be no fatalities. “According to initial information, there are no dead. But there is information about one person gravely wounded,” the city council said.

Zelensky said in an online video address: “Despite the shelling, despite all the difficulties, we will continue the rescue work.”

The UN warned that a humanitarian crisis was growing in eastern Ukraine, with a lack of food, water and medicines. “The humanitarian situation in cities such as Mariupol and Sumy is extremely dire,” Matthew Saltmarsh, of the UN refugee agency, said from Poland.

A Russian missile attack near Lviv airport raised fears of the war spreading to western Ukraine. Two cruise missiles from the Black Sea hit a facility for repairing military aircraft, including Ukraine’s MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters. It was just over 40 miles from the Polish border. Russian forces continued to pound the outskirts of Kyiv, and the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy remained under siege. Ukraine’s air force claimed to have destroyed an advanced command post on an airfield in Chornobayivka, in the Kherson region, killing its commander.