Vladimir Putin played magnanimous peacemaker today insisting that he ‘of course’ doesn’t want war in Ukraine hours after announcing a theatrical ‘withdrawal’ of some of his forces while massing tens of thousands of troops along the border

The strongman, speaking at the Kremlin alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said he is ‘ready to go down the negotiations track’ and engage over issues such as arms control, transparency around military drills, and other measures aimed at reducing sky-high tensions between East and West.

Russia’s apparent withdrawal is being treated with extreme scepticism in the West, where intelligence agencies suspect is could be part of a ruse to launch a smaller military operation in the regions of Eastern Ukraine where Russian separatists are fighting.

Putin also insisted that the fate of two breakaway Ukrainian regions – where Moscow-backed rebels are fighting the government – should form part of talks because ‘genocide’ is underway there. And he again accused the West of ignoring his demand that Ukraine is banned from NATO, underlining how far apart the two sides still are.