In his outgoing speech, Sir Richard Moore said Vladimir Putin is ‘stringing us along’ amid failing efforts to broker a truce – calling the Russian leader out for his ‘lies to the world’
Britain’s spy chief has warned there is “absolutely no evidence” Vladimir Putin wants to negotiate a peace in war-torn Ukraine.
Head of MI6 Sir Richard Moore said the Russian leader is “stringing us along” amid failing efforts to broker a truce. With next year marking four years since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a peace deal seems no closer despite months of US-led talks and Donald Trump meeting Putin in Alaska. Speaking at the British consulate in Istanbul in his outgoing speech on Friday, Sir Richard said there was “absolutely no evidence” Putin wants to settle the conflict as he seeks to “impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal”.
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“But he cannot succeed,” Sir Richard – who is stepping down at the end of the month after five years in his role – said. “Bluntly, Putin has bitten off more than he can chew. He thought he was going to win an easy victory. But he – and many others – underestimated the Ukrainians.”
Sir Richard said the Russian leader “has sought to convince the world that Russian victory is inevitable, but he lies, he lies to the world, he lies to his people, perhaps he even lies to himself”. He said Putin was “mortgaging his country’s future for his own personal legacy and a distorted version of history” and that the war was “accelerating this decline”.
The spy chief, who previously served as the UK’s ambassador to Turkey, was speaking as MI6 unveiled a dark web portal allowing potential intelligence providers to contact the service. Dubbed “Silent Courier”, the secure messaging platform aims to recruit new spies for the UK – including in Russia. “To those men and women in Russia who have truths to share and the courage to share them, I invite you to contact MI6,” Sir Richard said. Blaise Metreweli will become the first woman to lead the Secret Intelligence Service when she replaces Sir Richard.
Sir Richard’s speech comes after Trump, who previously claimed he could end the war within 24 hours of his presidency, said he has been “really let down” by Putin at a press conference during his state visit to the UK. “I’m very honoured to tell you that we’ve solved seven wars, seven wars, wars that were unsolvable, wars that couldn’t be negotiated or done, the US has done seven of them,” Trump claimed.
“The one that I thought would be easiest would be because of my relationship with President Putin, but he’s let me down. He’s really let me down. Was going to be Russia and Ukraine, but we’ll see how that turns out. I thought it might be among the easiest of the group.”
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Moscow has continued to pound Ukraine with attacks in recent weeks. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that Russia had launched thousands of drones and powerful glide bombs, as well as hundreds of missiles at targets inside the country just over the prior fortnight. In response, Ukraine has developed its own long-range drones that have hit deep into Russia, damaging installations vital for Russia’s war effort. Recent strikes have included oil refineries, depots and terminals.