Top story: ‘Fear always makes you an accomplice’
Good morning, I’m Warren Murray and this is Tuesday’s foremost news.
Vladimir Putin’s main spokesman has said the west pushed the Kremlin “into the corner” with Nato expansion, while sanctions on trade, finance and oligarchs were akin to “total war” against Russia. Dmitry Peskov’s remarks in an interview on American TV came amid more claims from UK and Ukrainian military intelligence that Russia’s war effort is in serious trouble. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russia was expected to bolster its flagging invasion force by sending more than 1,000 mercenaries from its private Wagner military group into eastern Ukraine as the Kremlin continues to suffer heavy losses.
Peace talks that are due to resume between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey today may be overshadowed by reports that the oligarch Roman Abramovich and the Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov suffered symptoms of poisoning after informal peace negotiations in Kyiv. Both men, who consumed only chocolate and water, were treated in Istanbul for symptoms that…
