Mariupol is now a ‘beautiful’ and ‘rebuilt city’ and Ukrainian forces should have surrendered earlier, Putin’s ambassador to UK says
Vladimir Putin’s ambassador to the UK says the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which Russian forces razed to the ground, is now “beautiful” and “rebuilt”.
In a wide-ranging interview with Sky News’ Yalda Hakim, Andrei Kelin also said Moscow has “no interest in Poland, Latvia, Estonia or any other countries” after NATO warned of future Russian invasions in Europe.
When asked about accusations of human rights abuses in Mariupol, Mr Kelin said: “Go to Mariupol, now look at it, it’s a new rebuilt, totally rebuilt city… it is amazing how beautiful it is.
“Not every building has been restored right now, but a lot of effort has been done.”
He continued: “People are returning to Mariupol, it is becoming a beautiful city.”
Asked why the port city needed to be destroyed, Mr Kelin said: “(The Ukrainians) could have surrendered earlier than that, they could have surrendered Mariupol much earlier rather than trying to make a fighting place of it.”
The siege of Mariupol by President Putin’s forces began in February 2022 and ended in May that year when Russia declared victory, with the last Ukrainian fighters defending the Azovstal steel plant surrendering.
On NATO’s claim about Russian plans to invade other countries in Europe, he said: “There is no interest in Poland or any other Baltic countries and we fully understand that any escalation beyond Ukraine will bring a world conflict with the destruction of everything… we cannot support this.”
Rubble is cleared at the site of a destroyed theatre in 2022. Pic: AP
On the war in Ukraine, he added: “It was a grave mistake by Western leaders to believe that Ukraine with Western assistance in money and weapons can prevail. Russia cannot be beaten at all.”
He continued: “Compared with Ukraine, our political situation is stable, our economy is developing pretty quickly, our resources are enormous.”
Mr Kelin also described the withdrawal of Russian tanks from Kyiv in the opening months of the war as a “gesture of goodwill” rather than a defeat, adding that the aim was “stretch Ukraine’s forces” so that Moscow could achieve its goals by “political means rather than military means”.
Asked about a report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies that Russia has lost more than 3000 battle tanks in its fighting against Ukraine, Mr Kelin insisted Moscow has “sufficient capacity” for its war effort.
The ambassador was also asked about reports Russia is receiving ballistic missiles and artillery from North Korea – an arrangement that would be in violation of UN sanctions Moscow itself has supported.
Mr Kelin insisted there was “no proof” of such an arrangement with Kim Jong Un’s regime.
The remark comes aftr Mr Putin gave Mr Kim a letter thanking him for his support for what the Russian leader calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Mr Kelin told Sky News that Russia is merely “establishing a new cooperation” with North Korea.
The ambassador was also asked whether he would prefer Donald Trump wins the US presidential election over Joe Biden later this year – with Mr Kelin refusing to support one candidate over the other.
However, he praised Mr Trump for talking about the “end of the war”, claiming other leaders such as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak merely talk about “continuation” of the conflict by agreeing to offer support to Ukraine.
Mr Trump has claimed he would be able to win the war in 24 hours if he becomes president for a second time.
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The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security
Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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