The Russian ambassador to the US has hinted at splits in the Kremlin hierarchy over the disastrous war in Ukraine.
Envoy Anatoly Antonov claimed America is secretly giving Vladimir Putin the terms of negotiations to halt the fighting.
It comes amid a c lear failure by the Russian army to make significant new progress in its push to invade areas of eastern Ukraine.
Antonov, 67, implied some inside the Kremlin’s power structures are ready to give up the fight, move back invading troops and even “repent” - while stressing he was not among those willing to capitulate.
The senior diplomat, seen as a hardliner, said: “The Americans are pushing us into negotiations, but with certain conditions.
“I would specify three of them.
“First, to stop military action as part of the special military operation.
“Second, to move our troops back to where they were before 24 February.
“The third is ‘to repent for everything we have done’.”
Antonov told Russian State TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov: “Naturally we are saying firm and clear, and we are unambiguously sure of this - at least the Russian diplomats that work here there will be no such capitulation. Never!
"We are firmly convinced - and it would have been harder to work without this certainty - that all tasks set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief will be fully completed.
“We will never surrender, and never go back."
By saying "at least the Russian diplomats that work here" he appeared to hint that others were less certain of his "no capitulation" message.
The veteran ambassador failed to mention Putin by name, instead referring to him as the ‘Supreme Commander-in-Chief’.
In doing so, he makes clear that the military strategy - seen as flawed even in Russian security and military ranks - is Putin’s and his alone.
In other statements, Antonov has echoed other figures in the Russian elite that the current east-west confrontation with then West arming Ukraine could trigger nuclear war,
He told Russian television: "The situation today is extremely, extremely dangerous.
“The US is being drawn deeper and deeper into conflict with the most unpredictable consequences for relations between the two nuclear powers.”
He also claimed Russian diplomats faced threats of physical violence and that US intelligence agencies were seeking to make private contact with his envoys.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, face-to-face meetings with US officials had ended, he said.
"It's like a besieged fortress. Basically, our embassy is operating in a hostile environment ... Embassy employees are receiving threats, including threats of physical violence.
"Agents from US security services are hanging around outside the Russian embassy, handing out CIA and FBI phone numbers, which can be called to establish contact."
The CIA and the FBI declined comment, reported Reuters.
