Featured Image Credit: VALERY SHARIFULIN/Getty
Topics: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump
Joe Yates
The head of Britain’s secretive MI6 has made disturbing claims about the state of the Russia-Ukraine war - and his words are sparking fears of an escalating global crisis... World War III.
Sir Richard Moore, chief of the UK’s foreign intelligence agency, made it clear during a press briefing today (September 19) that peace talks with Vladimir Putin are a total non-starter right now.
According to Moore, there's 'absolutely no evidence' that the Russian president has any real interest in ending the conflict, and he's accused Putin of playing the West for fools.
Moore told reporters that he believed the 72-year-old is 'stringing us along', warning that Putin is using every trick in the book to push his own imperial ambitions, but that the Russian leader has seriously misjudged the strength and resilience of Ukraine.
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"He seeks to impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal. But he cannot succeed," the 62-year-old Sir Moore 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."
The warning comes just after President Donald Trump, during a high-profile visit to the UK, admitted Putin had 'let me down'.
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Trump had previously claimed his personal connection with the Russian president would help broker peace - but that plan has seemingly hit a wall.
The war, which began in February 2022 with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has already taken tens of thousands of lives, and according to Moore, it’s pushing Ukraine further into the arms of the West, while simultaneously dragging Russia backwards.
"Putin 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.
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"[Putin is] mortgaging his country's future for his own personal legacy and a distorted version of history", he added, suggesting the war is only 'accelerating this decline'.
The speech, delivered in Istanbul, also came as MI6 announced the launch of a new encrypted dark web tool, dubbed 'Silent Courier', aimed at recruiting spies from inside Russia and beyond.
"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 Moore said.
His departure this month marks the end of a five-year tenure, and his replacemen, Blaise Metreweli, will become the first woman to lead MI6 in its history.