Zelensky rules out peace talks with Putin

Zelensky rules out peace talks with Putin… but Britain admits its tanks won’t arrive in Ukraine until the end of March and Macron ally insists France MAY send jets after Paris tried to wriggle out of sending heavy weaponry

• Ukrainian President Zelensky has ruled out peace talks with Russia 
• Ministers said UK tanks would take until the end of March to reach Ukraine 

Volodymyr Zelensky last night dramatically ruled out peace talks with Putin’s Russia, even as British ministers revealed that tanks pledged to Ukraine will not arrive in the war-torn country until the end of March.

Speaking to Sky News, the Ukrainian President declared: ‘They don’t want any talks, and this was the case before the invasion. President Putin decided so. He doesn’t want negotiations because he doesn’t want peace.

‘I am convinced that Ukraine is just the first step for him. I am convinced that he is waging a big war. But after Ukraine there will be further steps, there will be other countries, if we fail to withstand. I think we will manage, we will get support and we will win.’

Britain, the US and Germany have pledged tanks to Ukraine, but their arrival will be delayed, while NATO ally France suggested it might send fighter jets to Kyiv after it tried to wriggle out of sending other heavy weaponry to help the country fend off Russian forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out peace talks with Russia in a new interview

Zelensky said Vladimir Putin ‘doesn’t want negotiations because he doesn’t want peace’

The UK was the first country to promise modern NATO tanks to Ukraine, with Germany and the US now also committed to supply Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces with dozens of vehicles. 

Thomas Gassilloud, chairman of the French defence committee, has said there are conditions to France sending jets to Ukraine but did not rule it out. 

Following talks with British defence ministers, Mr Gassilloud said: ‘Regarding deliveries to Ukraine, we must study requests on a case-by-case basis and leave all the doors open.

‘So we will see in the coming weeks what happens next as things are moving fast.’ 

France has so far agreed to send AMX-10 RCs armoured combat vehicles, but stopped short of committing to sending their Leclerc main battle tanks. 

Paris argues that, unlike the German Leopards, which are omnipresent across Europe with as many as 2,000 available, there are only about 200 Leclercs. They are also no longer produced. 

Meanwhile, a Pentagon spokesperson admitted the US does not ‘have these tanks available in excess in our US stocks’.

The means it could take months before the tanks, which President Biden called the most capable in the world, reach their destination. 

President Zelensky said in a statement last night: ‘This Russian aggression can and should be stopped only with adequate weapons. 

Challenger 2 tanks supplied by the UK to Ukraine are expected to arrive at the end of March

French President Emmanuel Macron has not yet committed to sending tanks to Ukraine 

We don’t have enough tanks to send to Ukraine, Pentagon admits 

 

‘The terrorist state will not understand anything else. Weapons on the battlefield. Weapons that protect our skies. 

‘New sanctions against Russia, i.e. political and economic weapons. And legal weapons – we need to work even harder to establish a tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

‘Every Russian missile against our cities, every Iranian drone used by terrorists is an argument why we need more weapons.’

Rishi Sunak said at Chequers yesterday: ‘Everyone should feel very proud of the leadership role that we here in the UK have played.’ 

He added: ‘We are now in dialogue with the Ukrainians about how best to provide those tanks and make sure their troops get the training they need on them as well. 

‘Those conversations are happening, everything is going according to plan.’ 

In the Commons, defence minister Alex Chalk said the UK will begin training Ukrainian soldiers in how to use and repair the tanks ‘on Monday’. 

On when Challenger 2 tanks would arrive in Ukraine, he added: ‘The intention is that it will be at the end of March, and between now and then a really significant programme of training, not just for the tank crews who are to operate this vehicle, but also for those who will be charged with maintaining it.’ 

He stressed that equipping Ukraine to push Russia out of its territory is ‘as important as equipping them to defend what they already have’. 

The US will supply M1A2 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, but it could take up to a year for them to get there

Responding to Mr Chalk’s statement, Labour welcomed the move by the UK and Nato allies to send tanks to Ukraine but also urged ministers to replenish the UK’s supply of arms after its donations. 

Shadow defence minister Rachel Hopkins said: ‘The UK remains united in its support of Ukraine. The first package of UK military assistance for 2023 with tanks, artillery, infantry vehicles, ammunition, and missiles has Labour’s fullest support.’ 

She then pressed the minister on what steps he is taking to ‘ramp up production of ammunition and equipment to restock our own armed forces and to support Ukraine’. 

‘It took 287 days into the start of the invasion for the Defence Secretary to get his act together and sign a new contract to replenish N-Laws [anti-tank weapons] for our armed forces and for Ukraine,’ she said. 

‘So how many more contracts have been signed to replenish UK stockpiles of other weapons sent to Ukraine?’ 

He said: ‘On the issue of restocking, she is right. She will understand that there are operational sensitivities which mean that I can’t go into the detail of exactly what is going to be restocked and when. 

‘But she will know – and the privy councillors including from the Opposition have been given a briefing on that – that is exactly what we should be doing to ensure that those who need to know these sensitive details are told what they properly can be.’ 

Meanwhile, Labour MP Kevan Jones also spoke about the ‘effects of these donations on our Army’s capability’. 

‘He talks about 227 Challenger 2 tanks. He knows that actual operational it’s far less than 100. 

‘So what is he going to do to actually ensure that those alarm bells that have been sounded by the Chief of the General Staff are met with new capabilities so we can meet our Nato commitment?’ he asked. 

Mr Chalk said it is ‘important’ to make the point that ‘weapons that we supply have the effect of degrading the very adversary that was noted in the IR [Integrated Review]’. 

He added: ‘So, not only is this a just war where we are there to stand up for the international rule of law – we are there to make a statement that might is not always right, that you can’t remake borders by force – but also it’s there to degrade the forces of our principal adversary as identified in the IR.’ 

He then pointed to comments made by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace that a further squadron of Challenger tanks will be brought to higher readiness, ‘ready to deploy in the defence of this nation’.

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