Zelenskyy and European leaders accuse Putin of stalling for time on peace talks

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised Russia (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

Ukraine’s president and European leaders have accused Vladimir Putin of stalling for time in diplomatic efforts to bring his invasion of Ukraine to an end and opposed any move to make Kyiv surrender land captured by Russian forces in return for peace.

Eight European leaders including Sir Keir Starmer and senior European Union officials said in a joint statement they intend to go ahead with plans to use Moscow’s billions of euros of frozen assets abroad to help Kyiv win the war, despite some misgivings about the legality and consequences of such a step.