The owner of the London-based Evening Standard newspaper has published a condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In this evening’s edition of the paper, the crossbench peer Evgeny Lebedev appealed to Russian president Vladimir Putin, writing: “I plead with you to use today’s negotiations to bring this terrible conflict in Ukraine to an end.”

In a passionate statement published opposite a picture of a paramedic performing CPR on a girl injured by shelling in the conflict, Lord Lebedev wrote: “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.”