The U.K. pushed back against a French call for Ukraine to restart peace negotiations with Russia, warning that President Vladimir Putin may simply be seeking a pause in hostilities after suffering a series of military setbacks.
“It’s always been clear that Russia would only meaningfully enter into negotiations when it felt pressurized to do so,” U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Saturday in an interview. “Russia is now on the back foot, but it is incredibly important that we continue to support the Ukrainians as they continue to defend themselves.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the IISS security conference in Bahrain, Cleverly said all wars “ultimately end in negotiations” but insisted that it’s up to Ukraine to decide under what conditions it’s willing to sit down for talks and what any settlement may look like.
