Putin could use peace talks to rearm his military - UK foreign secretary

In an interview with The Telegraph, James Cleverly said there was a risk "a ceasefire is actually just used by Putin to train up more troops and to produce more ammunition and to refit his damaged armed forces and to rearm his armed forces," Sky news reports.

Cleverly questioned whether Putin would really engage "in good faith".

"The point is that we've got to be very careful if 'peace' talks - and I use the word 'peace' in inverted commas - are initiated by Vladimir Putin," he said.

He warned that if the Russians used any pause in the fighting simply as cover to rearm, there could be even further trouble on the battlefield.

"Then all that will happen is we'll see exactly these scenes again, but maybe, in six, 12, 18 months' time," he said.

"The resolution to this needs to be sustainable, it needs to be meaningful, it needs to be real,” UK foreign secretary emphasized.

His warning came after US President Joe Biden said he would be prepared to talk to Putin if he was genuinely looking to end the war - something that has not happened so far, Sky news reports.