President Putin,
As Europe stands on the brink of another world war, and the world on the brink of a possible nuclear disaster, I plead with you to use today’s negotiations to bring this terrible conflict in Ukraine to an end.
I say this as someone with deep personal ties to both my country of birth, and to the country where I was raised and now call my home.
On this page are the final minutes of a six-year-old child fatally injured by shells that struck her Mariupol apartment block on Sunday. She is still wearing her pink jacket as medics fight to save her. But it is too late. Other children, and other families, are suffering similar fates across Ukraine.
As a Russian citizen I plead with you to stop Russians killing their Ukrainian brothers and sisters.
As a British citizen I ask you to save Europe from war. As a Russian patriot I plead that you prevent any more young Russian soldiers from dying needlessly. As a citizen of the world I ask you to save the world from annihilation.
Today’s negotiations at the Ukraine-Belarus border provide a moment of hope. You can stop this conflict. Please seize the moment and end this war today.
Evgeny Lebedev
Proprietor of the Evening Standard.
28 February 2022
© Times of Ukraine