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Apply with £100,000 annual income or £100,000 savings or investments with HSBC UK or Premier status abroad. Hello and welcome back to Battleground Ukraine with me, Patrick Bishop and Saul David.

Well, Vladimir Putin seems to have been touched with a Christmas spirit in recent days,

telling Russian TV that he was ready to talk peace. On the goodwill to all men front, not so much.

Now, we've been there before, but the statement produced an immediate response from Ukraine,

who floated the idea of an international peace conference to take place as early as February.

So, however you look at it, it seems that both sides are at least feeling the pressure

to look as if they're seeking a way out of the conflict. Yes, indeed. This would seem to be a very

good time to look at where we are with the first anniversary of the conflict looming and to examine

the prospects of the war ending in 2023. Now to shine some light down the dark path ahead, we got as our guest this week, Mark

McKinnon, the brilliant senior international correspondent for the Globe and Mail, Canada's leading

newspaper. Mark has reported on Ukraine for many years and was in Kiev when the Russians

rolled in earlier this year. He's extremely well placed to answer some of the big questions

with the wealth of experience and expertise behind him. And as well as having deep knowledge of

Ukraine, he's also served as the Globe and Mail's bureau chief in both Moscow and Beijing.

But first, these peace murmurings, Patrick, do you think they are any more substantial than what

we've heard before?

Not really. I think this is an indication of the pressure that both sides are feeling to talk the talk,

even if they have no real intention of walking the walk, if you see what I mean.

...