Russia must pull troops out of Ukraine before peace talks, says Rishi Sunak

PM promises more weapons in phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky

Rishi Sunak and the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv (PA Media)

Rishi Sunak has said that Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine before any peace agreement can be considered in the 10-month conflict.

The prime minister’s comment came in a phone call today with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in which Mr Sunak confirmed that more UK anti-air guns and short-range air defence missiles will arrive in the coming weeks.

It came as Russian president Vladimir Putin said that an agreement would have to be reached “in the end” but that he was wary to do so because of what he perceived as Western duplicity over the Minsk accords of 2014 and 2015.