Russian ambassador to the US suggests a divide in the Kremlin over the Ukraine conflict

The Russian ambassador to the US has sensationally hinted at a split in the Kremlin hierarchy over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking on Russian state TV, envoy Anatoly Antonov said America is secretly giving the Kremlin the terms of negotiations to halt the brutal fighting.

This comes amid a clear failure by the Russian army to make significant new progress in its push to invade areas of eastern Ukraine, after Moscow’s forces changed tactics to focus on the region following earlier failings around Kyiv.

Antonov, 67, implied that some inside the Kremlin’s power structures are ready to give up the fight, move back invading troops and even ‘repent’ – while stressing he was not among those willing to capitulate.

The senior diplomat – seen as a hardliner – said: ‘The Americans are pushing us into negotiations, but with certain conditions.

‘I would specify three of them,’ he said. ‘First, to stop military action as part of the special military operation. Second, to move our troops back to where they were before 24 February.’ The third, he said, is ‘to repent for everything we have done’.

Antonov told Russian State TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov: ‘Naturally we are saying firm and clear, and we are unambiguously sure of this – at least the Russian diplomats that work here there will be no such capitulation. Never!

‘We are firmly convinced – and it would have been harder to work without this certainty – that all tasks set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief will be fully completed. We will never surrender, and never go back.’

By saying ‘at least the Russian diplomats that work here’ he appeared to hint that others were less certain of his ‘no capitulation’ message.

The veteran ambassador failed to mention Putin by name, instead referring to him as the ‘Supreme Commander-in-Chief’.

In doing so, he makes clear that the military strategy – seen as flawed even in Russian security and military ranks – is coming from the very top of the Kremlin.

In other statements, Antonov has echoed other figures in the Russian elite that the east-west confrontation, with the West arming Ukraine, could trigger nuclear war.

He told Russian television: ‘The situation today is extremely, extremely dangerous.

‘The U.S. is being drawn deeper and deeper into conflict with the most unpredictable consequences for relations between the two nuclear powers.’

The Russian president placed Moscow’s nuclear forces on high alert shortly after his invasion of Ukraine began February 24, raising fears he could press the button as the war in Ukraine continues to go against him.

And amid increasing Western support to Ukraine, Putin has made thinly veiled threats hinting at a willingness to deploy Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons, which Russian military doctrine holds can be used to force an adversary to retreat.