London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Sep 12, 2026

Putin’s war can ‘now be stopped’ after Kherson retreat, says Zelensky

Putin’s war can ‘now be stopped’ after Kherson retreat, says Zelensky

Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine can “now be stopped” after his troops were forced into a humiliating retreat from Kherson, president Volodymyr Zelensky told world leaders on Tuesday.

He stressed that Ukrainian forces would seek to press on with seizing back more territory after the major victory in the south of the country.

“We will not allow Russia to wait out and build up its forces,” he told the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, by video link.

“I am convinced that now is the time when Russia’s war must and can be stopped.”

He urged world leaders to step up their efforts to force Mr Putin to withdraw his army from Ukraine around nine months after he launched his invasion.

He called on the G20 leaders at their summit, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, to adopt a 10-point peace formula and end the war “justly and on the basis of the UN Charter and international law”.

It was not immediately known if Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who headed the Russian delegation to the summit, remained in the room while Mr Zelensky was speaking.

The Ukrainian president, who referred to the G20 as the G19, apparently because he does not consider Russia to be part of it, called for an international conference to “cement key element of the postwar security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space” and to prevent a recurrence of “Russian aggression”.

He added: “Please, choose your path for leadership - and together we will surely implement the peace formula.”

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said “countries should not invade their neighbours” as he condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which is estimated to have left 200,000 soldiers dead or wounded, and to have killed 40,000 civilians.



Facing Mr Lavrov in the plenary hall, Mr Sunak called on Moscow to “get out of Ukraine and end this barbaric war” as he blamed the conflict for worsening global economic challenges and fuelling food shortages.

He criticised Mr Putin for shunning the meeting, saying: “Maybe if he had, we could get on with sorting things out.”

The two-day gathering of leaders of the world’s major economies was opened by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who said the world would struggle to move forward “if the war does not end”.

The annual summit comes as G20 nations are deeply divided over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, which have pushed up food and energy prices around the world.

In his remarks, Mr Sunak said the the context for this G20 “is stark”.

According to a Downing Street transcript of his speech to the closed session, the Prime Minister said: “Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has profound implications for us all, because it has undermined the fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“We all depend on these principles. They are the foundations of the international order. They must be upheld.

“It is very simple - countries should not invade their neighbours, they should not attack civilian infrastructure and civilian populations and they should not threaten nuclear escalation.”

He said the economic issues “we should be focusing on today are made much, much worse” by Moscow’s actions.

“The weaponisation of energy and food is totally unacceptable,” he said, adding that Russia is “harming the most vulnerable people around the world” by destroying grain stores and blocking shipments.

Mr Sunak urged fellow leaders to support the renewal of a deal allowing grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to ease the global food crisis.

He continued: “One man has the power to change all of this.

“It is notable that Putin didn’t feel able to join us here. Maybe if he had, we could get on with sorting things out.

“Because the single biggest difference that anyone could make is for Russia to get out of Ukraine and end this barbaric war.”

The Prime Minister stressed that Britain would “back Ukraine for as long as it takes”.

He also praised Mr Zelensky’s “incredible fortitude”.


Reiterating that Russia must withdraw all its troops from the territory of Ukraine and that there cannot be any territorial concessions on Kyiv’s part, Mr Zelensky called for all Ukrainian prisoners to be released.

He also stressed the need to restore “radiation safety” with regard to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant where fighting has been taking place, introducing price restrictions on Russian energy resources, and expanding a grain export initiative.

“If Russia opposes our peace formula, you will see that it only wants war,” Mr Zelensky said.

The United States expects the G20 to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on the global economy at the conclusion of the meeting in Bali, a senior US official said earlier.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese Crypto Entrepreneur Leon Li Identified as Seller of £190 Million London Mansion
Trades Union Congress Proposes Social Energy Tariff Funded by Higher Bank Surcharge
British Chambers of Commerce Calls for State Pension Triple Lock to Be Scrapped
Anthropic Says Claude Helped Disrupt Biological Weapons and Cyber Espionage Threats
UK Imposes Sanctions Over Israeli Settlements and West Bank Violence
UK Reimposes Sectoral Sanctions on Iran’s Aviation, Shipping and Energy Networks
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as AI and Programming Services Lift Activity
UK House of Commons Rejects Assisted Dying Bill by 286 Votes to 270
UK Reviews Nationwide Emergency Alert Tests After Systems Meet Reliability Targets
UK Seeks Faster Rail Links Across Northern Industrial Corridors
British Business Bank Allocates £150 Million for High-Growth Companies in Northern England
BBC Warns Staff Strikes Are Possible Amid Pay Dispute and £500 Million Savings Drive
UK Backs Short Extension of UN Sudan Sanctions Regime
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Defends Early Prison Release Reforms and Growth Strategy
Reform UK Faces Scrutiny Over Alleged Effort to Circumvent Foreign Donation Rules
UK Analysts Warn Tax Rises or Spending Cuts May Be Needed to Preserve Fiscal Headroom
Jaguar Land Rover Plans Up to 4,000 Job Cuts in £1.7 Billion Cost-Saving Drive
UK Chancellor Warns of Difficult October Budget as Borrowing Costs Rise
UK Declares Israeli Occupation of West Bank Unlawful and Expands Sanctions
UK House of Commons Rejects Assisted Dying Bill for England and Wales
English Councils to Gain Power to Introduce Tourist Taxes by 2028
Kemi Badenoch Reshuffles Conservative Shadow Cabinet
Firefighters Make Progress Containing Major Wildfires in South Wales
John Lewis Partnership Reports £124 Million Loss
Study Says UK AI Data Centres Will Create Only a Quarter of Forecast Jobs
UK Government Considers Higher Industrial Water Prices Amid Supply Pressures
Andy Burnham Holds First Call With Donald Trump as UK Prime Minister
NHS Records Busiest Summer on Record as Heatwaves Drive Hospital Admissions
Home Secretary Orders Police Crackdown on Far-Right Anti-Migrant Vigilantes
UK Supreme Court Rules Northern Ireland Religious Education Curriculum Breaches Human Rights Standards
Markets Price in Four Bank of England Rate Rises by Next Summer
House of Commons Prepares Free Vote on Assisted Dying Bill
UK Government Bans Trade With Israeli Settlements in Occupied Territories
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as Artificial Intelligence Investment Supports Expansion
Andy Burnham Becomes UK Prime Minister After Keir Starmer Resigns
John Lewis Partnership Loss Widens to £124 Million
UK Government to Put White Working-Class Social Mobility at Centre of Equality Policy
McLaren Plans £450 Million Technology Investment Creating 1,000 UK Jobs
UK Chancellor Faces Calls for Wealth Taxes and Public Ownership in Autumn Budget
English Mayors to Gain Powers to Impose Uncapped Overnight Tourist Taxes
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Government Against Bank Windfall Taxes
UK Air Traffic Control Outage Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
UK Imposes Trade Ban on Israeli Settlements in the West Bank
UK Borrowing Costs Surge as Middle East Tensions Push Long-Term Gilt Yields to Highest Since 1998
Buckingham Palace Says Prince Harry and Meghan Will Not Resume Official Royal Duties
UK Treasury Faces Calls to Scrap £100,000 Childcare Support Threshold
Trades Union Congress Urges Labour Government to Rewrite Migration Policy
Riot Police Deployed After Anti-Migrant Protests Turn Violent in Portsmouth
UK Considers Replacing Some Disability Cash Payments With Direct Services
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Chancellor Against Higher Banking Taxes
×