Putin behaving ‘like 20th century tyrant’ in Ukraine

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday that the Russian president was behaving “like some mid-20th century tyrant” by sending troops and weapons into Ukraine.

Russia has consistently denied it is directly supporting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, but Nato and a host of Western countries say the evidence is clear. On Saturday Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held up passports he said had been taken from Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Hammond said: “This man (Putin) has sent troops across an international border and occupied another country’s territory in the 21st century acting like some mid-20th century tyrant.

“Civilised nations do not behave like that.”

He added that Putin will “pay the price for what he is doing in Ukraine..”

‘Bit player’

His comments come after former Nato commander General Sir Richard Shirreff said David Cameron had become a “diplomatic irrelevance” over the Ukrainian crisis. Sir Richard said efforts to hammer out a peace deal, being orchestrated by Germany and France, showed that the prime minister was being side-lined.

“He is clearly a bit player,” Sir Richard said. “Nobody is taking any notice of him.”

Mr Hammond dismissed these claims on Saturday as “ludicrous”. On Sunday George Osborne also insisted Britain remained “hugely influential” in the world and rejected Sir Richard’s comments.

Peace talks

Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany held discussions over the phone on Sunday in a bid to find a diplomatic resolution to violence in eastern Ukraine.

A German government spokesman said the four country’s leaders “worked further on a package of measures in the context of their efforts on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.”

The four leaders will meet in Minsk on Wednesday to continue working on a resolution. President Poroshenko said it is hoped the talks will lead to a “swift and unconditional ceasefire”, but President Putin said the meeting would only go ahead “if we manage to agree our positions by then”.

These talks come as a row has been brewing between the US and some of its European counterparts. There are growing demands from senior US figures to arm the Ukrainian army – but European leaders such as Angela Merkel say this will only exacerbate the situation.

More than 5,000 people have died in clashes between the Ukrainian military and the separatist rebels.