As Ukraine peace talks continue, no one should be in any doubt about who's to blame for war

It was Putin’s forces that annexed Crimea in 2014 and it was his decision to launch an all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The war only continues because Russia is still pursuing it and Ukraine is doing what all countries have a right to do: defending itself and fighting for its freedom.

Trump has claimed that Ukraine “should have never started” the war, but the US President has only a weak concept of truth, believing what suits him best, as seen with his false claim that he won the 2020 US presidential election.

According to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the G7 group of countries are united in calling for a ceasefire with “no conditions”. Ukraine has also backed the US’s proposals to stop the fighting.

"Ukraine has set their position out. It is now for Russia to accept it. I think that there is a coalition of the willing emerging to give Ukraine the security architecture and arrangements that they need, and to get into the detail of any monitoring of that ceasefire, going forward. On all of that, there was common ground, and the G7 family came together,” he said.

If Putin rejects the ceasefire, it will only go to show what we know already: that he is a warmongering dictator intent on conquest. Trump would then have a decision to make about whether to be as tough on Putin as he has been on Zelensky. At the moment, the US President appears to be keener on slapping tariffs on fellow democracies than imposing new sanctions or pressure on Russia.

For all Trump’s talk about "good and productive discussions" with the Kremlin and the vitriol he has directed towards Zelenksy, it should be clear to all that Putin is the reason why this war began and that he will be the one to blame if it continues.