Diplomats in the UK are preparing to “pressure Kyiv to sit down and negotiate” with Russia in the hope the war in Ukraine can be brought to an end, it has been reported.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has largely been seen as underwhelming as fighting in the east of the country continues.
Russian forces have endured a lot of losses, as well as losing its Black Sea Fleet, but Ukraine has made up little territory on land.
Now, it has been reported that diplomats in the UK could be about to try and convince Ukraine to enter peace talks.
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On the latest episode of Politics at Jack and Sam’s, a podcast about politics in the UK, Politico’s Jack Blanchard says: “Whisper it… Ukraine’s big counter-offensive was not anything like the success people hoped, and that is raising big questions about Ukraine’s ability to win this war in any meaningful military way.
“And there is chatter in diplomatic circles about putting pressure on Kyiv to sit down and negotiate. It will be very interesting to hear David Cameron’s (UK Foreign Secretary) view on that.”
This comes as pressure mounts on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
On Monday, Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said Zelensky is “paying for mistakes he has made” and becoming an “autocrat”.
Speaking to Swiss media, he added: “People wonder why we weren’t better prepared for this war, why Zelenskyy denied until the end that it would come to this.
“People see who’s effective and who’s not. And there were and still are a lot of expectations. Zelenskyy is paying for mistakes he has made.”
Asked what mistakes Mr Zelenskyy had made, Klitschko added: “People wonder why we weren’t better prepared for this war.
“Or why it was possible that the Russians were able to reach Kyiv so quickly.
“There was too much information that didn’t match reality. But still, the president has an important function today and we must support him until the end of the war.
“But at the end of this war, every politician will pay for his successes or failures.”
On Zelensky’s more authoritarian streak, the former boxing champions told Der Spiegel: “At some point we will no longer be any different from Russia, where everything depends on the whim of one man.”
