Germany hits back at Britain over claim it is ‘over-eager’ for early peace deal

Germany has hit back at Britain's claim that it supports Ukraine surrendering territory to Russia, amid tensions between Western allies over peace talks.

Berlin was said to be "over-eager" to endorse a series of significant Ukrainian concessions in order to secure an early peace pact with Moscow.

But a spokesman for Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, branded the suggestion "absurd", while German sources accused British officials of playing politics.

It came as Ukrainian forces continued to make territorial gains around Kyiv, with Russian troops forced into further retreats in order to consolidate their positions in the east of the country.

Boris Johnson has urged Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, to avoid making cheap concessions in peace talks while his troops are launching successful counter-attacks against Russian-held positions.

The Prime Minister believes Kyiv should continue to make military gains before reaching a settlement with the Kremlin to ensure it is in the strongest possible position.

A government source told The Times: "Some of our allies may be too eager for him to settle.

"We think Ukraine needs to be in the strongest position militarily before those talks can take place."

France and Germany are hoping for a swift conclusion to the conflict in order to rebuild the pandemic-stricken European economy, instead of backing a protracted war against the Russian invasion.

But they have emerged as outliers, with more EU nations opting to support Britain's push for a Russian military defeat in Ukraine.

"Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be guaranteed," a diplomat told The Telegraph. "There can be no compromise on this."

Berlin has, however, rejected claims that it is going soft on the Kremlin, insisting it has delivered the second-largest arms shipments to Kyiv.

Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesman for the German chancellor, said: "First of all, I would like to convey to you my astonishment at the claim that has been circulated, which is not only absurd but also not covered by any facts.

"The German government has broken with a decades-old stance and launched large-scale arms deliveries to Ukraine. Germany supports Ukraine with humanitarian, financial and military aid. And this support continues. Just this week, further extensive deliveries of military equipment have been agreed upon."

Peace talks resumed on Friday, as Moscow accused Kyiv of carrying out its first airstrike on Russian soil - further dampening hopes of any de-escalation.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military officials said Russian troops were continuing to shift their focus away from the capital and onto the Donbas.

"The main efforts of the Russian occupiers are aimed at defending the previously occupied borders, regrouping and withdrawing troops to the territory of the Republic of Belarus to restore combat capability," they added.

As part of their withdrawal, Russian troops handed control of the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant back to Ukrainian authorities after soldiers suffered radiation poisoning.

They reportedly received "significant doses of radiation" after digging trenches in contaminated soil around the site of the 1986 reactor explosion.

Amid fears of a nuclear meltdown or Russian-launched chemical attacks in Ukraine, the EU agreed to stockpile protective gear and medicines, including iodine tablets, to boost its defences.

Supplies, such as decontamination equipment, gloves, masks and other materials, will be purchased by the bloc to protect against such a catastrophic event.

EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel clashed with their Chinese counterparts over the conflict on Friday during a video call.

The bloc's most senior officials pressed Beijing to actively seek an end to the war and not to support Moscow economically or militarily going forward.

In a post-summit news conference, Mrs von der Leyen said Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, and Li Keqiang, his prime minister, made no such assurances.

And on the first visit to Kyiv by an EU president, the head of the European Parliament vowed Brussels would help Ukraine rebuild its war-stricken towns and cities.

Roberta Metsola, who took over as the European Parliament's president in January, also promised to back Kyiv's bid to join the bloc.

"The European Union recognises your European ambitions and your aspiration to be a candidate country for succession. And you can count on the European Parliament's full support in achieving this goal," she said.