U.Ok.’s MI6 spy chief says Putin “lies to the world” and has no real interest in peace in Ukraine

There is “absolutely no evidence” that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin desires to barter peace in Ukraine, the outgoing head of Britain’s overseas intelligence company mentioned Friday in a speech. Sir Richard Moore, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6 as it’s extra generally identified, mentioned Putin was “stringing us along.”

“He seeks to impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal. But he cannot succeed,” Moore mentioned. “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.”

Moore was talking on the British consulate in Istanbul after 5 years as head of MI6. He leaves the publish on the finish of September.

During his tenure, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a conflict that has seen tens of hundreds killed and nonetheless rages, principally in jap Ukraine.

Moore mentioned the invasion had strengthened Ukrainian nationwide id and accelerated its westward trajectory, in addition to pushing Sweden and Finland to affix NATO.

“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,” Moore advised a information convention.

He mentioned that Putin was “mortgaging his country’s future for his own personal legacy and a distorted version of history” and the conflict was “accelerating this decline.”

Speaking Thursday throughout a state go to to the U.Ok., President Trump voiced frustration with Putin, saying he had hoped the conflict in Ukraine can be straightforward to finish — as he urged it could earlier than taking workplace —  “because of my relationship with President Putin,” however that the Russian chief had “really let me down.”

That comment got here a few month after Mr. Trump met with Putin in Alaska, and mentioned after their summit that he believed the Russian chief wished to finish the conflict.

Moore, who beforehand served because the U.Ok.’s ambassador to Ankara, the Turkish capital, added that “greater powers than Russia have failed to subjugate weaker powers than Ukraine.”

Analysts say Putin believes he can outlast the political dedication of Ukraine’s Western companions and win a protracted conflict of attrition by sporting down Ukraine’s smaller military with sheer weight of numbers.

Ukraine, in the meantime, is racing to increase its protection cooperation with different nations and safe billions of {dollars} of funding in its home weapons trade.

Recruiting digital spies

Moore’s speech got here because the U.Ok. overseas workplace introduced the launch of a brand new darkish internet portal by MI6 geared toward recruiting “new agents in Russia and around the world.”

Called “Silent Courier,” the U.Ok. authorities mentioned the portal would harness the anonymity of the darkish internet and permit “anyone in the world with access to sensitive information relating to terrorism or hostile intelligence activity to securely contact the U.K. and offer their services.”

The U.Ok. overseas workplace mentioned directions for easy methods to entry the portal can be out there on its YouTube channel, and that it was modeled on the same method taken by the United States Central Intelligence Agency.

“We’re asking those with sensitive information on global instability, international terrorism or hostile state intelligence activity to contact MI6 securely online,” Moore mentioned throughout his speech in Istanbul, in response to a overseas workplace assertion. “Our virtual door is open to you.”

The overseas workplace additionally mentioned a brand new partnership with Google Cloud would enhance communications between the U.Ok. and the U.S.

“Following the U.S. President’s historic second State Visit to the U.K. this week, the U.K. and U.S. continue to strengthen their defence and security relationship in an increasingly uncertain world,” the overseas workplace mentioned. “Last week, a new partnership with Google Cloud means the U.K. and U.S. can communicate securely, so the UK and our closest ally can outmatch hostile actors who seek to cause chaos for working people by disrupting their everyday lives, including trying to steal sensitive information and launching targeted cyber campaigns.”

Haley Ott

contributed to this report.