Putin under fire from Ukraine and its allies

UKRAINE and its European allies have accused Russia’s President Vladimir Putin of feigning interest in peace efforts in Ukraine, after five hours of talks with United States envoys at the Kremlin produced no breakthrough.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS & PRESS ASSOCIATION REPORTERS

> Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov

(Getty Images)

The Russian leader “should end the bluster and the bloodshed and be ready to come to the table and to support a just and lasting peace,’ UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said yesterday.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged Mr Putin to “stop wasting the world’s time”.

‘The remarks reflect the high tensions and gaping gulf that remain between Russia on one side and Ukraine and its European allies on the other over how to end a war in Ukraine that Moscow started when it invaded its neighbour nearly four years ago.

On Tuesday, Mr Putin accused the Europeans of sabotaging the US-led peace efforts and warned that, if provoked, Russia would be ready for war with Europe.

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, European governments, along with the US, have spent huge sums to support Kyiv financially and militarily. Under US President Donald Trump, however, the US has tempered its support - and instead made a push to end the war.