The Russian president was said to have been seriously considering a peace deal in the wake of several battlefield setbacks last month.

Early peace talks faltered following a meeting in Istanbul in late March, after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Kremlin of committing war crimes against civilians in Mariupol and Bucha.

According to Putin, peace efforts were at a "dead end," and was particularly upset over the sinking of the Russian Black Sea flagship, Moskva, according to two of FT's sources.

"There was hope for a deal. Putin was going back and forth. He needs to find a way to come out of this a winner," said one source, who added that when the Moskva sank, "Putin was against signing anything. [ . . . ] after the Moskva he doesn't look like a winner, because it was humiliating."

According to a relatively new narrative, Putin has a 'distorted' view of the war due to his own generals, and Russian television, painting a victorious picture - which has led the Russian president to insist that civilians were not targeted during the attacks.

"Putin sincerely believes in the nonsense he hears on [Russian] television and he wants to win big," said one source.