{"text":[[{"start":7.44,"text":"Ukraine and Russia face a painful winter but the accumulation of damage on both sides could open the door to peace talks by the end of 2027, the former head of MI6 has said."}],[{"start":17.84,"text":"Speaking at the FT Weekend Festival in London on Saturday, John Sawers said that no deal between the two countries was plausible before next spring, and enduring peace was “not really conceivable” as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin remained in power."}],[{"start":31.84,"text":"Returning to “post-2014 levels of hostilities” may be the “best you can achieve” in the present circumstances, he added."}],[{"start":39.2,"text":"Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after Ukraine’s Maidan revolution, marking the start of the conflict which subsequently escalated in 2022 with Moscow’s full-scale invasion."}],[{"start":50.6,"text":"Sawers’ comments came as American envoys arrived in Moscow with what Donald Trump has described as “a proposal to end the war”. The US president has provided no details of the plan or any indication as to whether the Kremlin is prepared to compromise."}],[{"start":64.32,"text":"Sawers, now executive chair of professional services company Newbridge Advisory, said it was “good that the Americans are reaching out and engaging with Putin . . . not that I have much faith in their envoys”, but “Putin’s demands are outlandish and they stay that way”."}],[{"start":78.4,"text":"The possibility of a successful ceasefire negotiation may arise in 2027 “if the pain on both sides continues to rise” and if “the progress that the Russians had been making on the ground . . . doesn’t resume”, he said."}],[{"start":90.28,"text":"There were “increasing voices inside Russia raising questions about the Ukraine war and Russia’s need to find a way out of it”, Sawers said."}],[{"start":99.6,"text":"Last month, the Kremlin fired the chief economist of one of its largest state-run financial institutions after he remarked that losses from Ukrainian strikes were “already becoming a noticeable macroeconomic barrier to Russian economic growth”."}],[{"start":112.28,"text":"There had also been “disruption on a political level” in Ukraine and figures who were “beginning to question” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sawers added. Zelenskyy last month fired one of his top aides after her house was raided by anti-corruption authorities."}],[{"start":129.24,"text":"Speaking at the same event on Saturday, Avril Haines, the former US director of national intelligence, described the US war with Iran as “one of the most challenging foreign policy mistakes . . . that we’ve seen”."}],[{"start":142.44,"text":"While Iran is “weaker” than it previously has been, it is “perversely more dangerous in this moment”, she added."}],[{"start":149.5,"text":"She said the war has “affected our Pacific posture in ways that are quite concerning” and “weakened many of our allies and partners around the world because of the economic consequences”."}],[{"start":159.56,"text":"Speaking on UK politics at the event, Michael Gove, the former Conservative cabinet minister, argued that Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s ‘Manchesterism’ ethos of public control was inconsistent."}],[{"start":170.84,"text":"The city’s revival had been driven by its “neoliberal” approach to property developers and private investors, he said."}],[{"start":183.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788748894_2413.mp3"}