We must think how to end this tragedy of war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin tells G20 summit

Vladimir Putin has told the Group of 20 leading economies that it was necessary to think about how to stop “the tragedy” of the war in Ukraine, and said Moscow had never refused to participate in peace talks with Kyiv.

The Russian President’s decision to send troops into Ukraine in February last year triggered Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two and the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the depths of the Cold War.

Addressing G20 leaders for the first time since the start of the war, Putin said some leaders had said in their speeches that they were shocked by the ongoing “aggression” of Russia in Ukraine.

“Yes, of course, military actions are always a tragedy,” Putin told the virtual G20 meeting yesterday.

“And of course, we should think about how to stop this tragedy.

“By the way, Russia has never refused peace talks with Ukraine.”

A senior Russian official said on Tuesday that Moscow could not co-exist with the current government in Kyiv and that it would continue what it calls its special military operation to “demilitarise” Ukraine.

Ukraine has vowed to fight until the last Russian soldier has left its territory, and its Western allies have said they will continue to support Kyiv.

Along with Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory. Putin says that territory is now part of Russia.

Ukraine’s counter-offensive has failed to make any significant gains this year against well-dug in Russian forces.

Putin skipped previous G20 summits in New Delhi and Nusa Dua, Indonesia, sending Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov instead.

The Russian leader addressed the 2021 and 2020 summits from Moscow. He last attended a G20 gathering in person in Osaka, Japan, in 2019.

The United Nations runs dozens of monitoring posts across Ukraine and has described the “severe human cost” over the past 21 months of Russia’s invasion as “painful to fathom”.

Despite the milestone, they have said the actual death toll was likely to be “significantly higher” than 10,000 as verification work is ongoing and difficult during a period of active combat. They are also prevented from entering the nearly 20pc of Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces and its proxies.

Most of the deaths have been caused by explosive weapons with a wide-area impact such as shells, missiles and cluster munitions, the UN said, adding that at least half of deaths in the last few months have been far from the frontline.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the fabric of relations between Russia and the US was extremely thin and risked being torn at any moment.

She told reporters at her weekly briefing that Washington’s actions could lead to “unpredictable consequences”.

Ms Zakharova said Russia will “of course” respond if Finland closed the remaining border posts between the two countries. She did not say what Moscow’s reaction would be.

She was responding to reporters’ questions after Finland last week closed four border stations in response to a surge in asylum seekers who it said were being funnelled there by Russia – an accusation that Moscow has denied.

Meanwhile Putin has announced Russia has sent the first vessels carrying grain to Africa free of charge.

Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal in July that had allowed safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea, but Moscow has since pledged to help developing countries that rely on Russian and Ukrainian grain exports.

Putin made his comments at the virtual G20 meeting called by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is chairing the summit.

The Russian leader also said a large share of global economic activity was shifting to Asia and Africa, and he called for a bigger role for developing nations in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7.30am and Fionnán Sheahan’s exclusive take on the day’s news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.