The Scottish Sun on Sunday warns there will be war in Ukraine within 48 hours after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden ended in “deadlock”. The paper says intelligence reports indicate Russia could “trigger a bomb blitz and ground invasion as early as Tuesday.”
The Sunday Mail leads with the story of Scottish expat Stuart McKenzie, who has been forced to flee Ukraine with his wife Lena and the couple’s two sons. The paper reports the family have left most of their belongings behind as they travel to Poland amid fears a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent.
“This has the whiff of Munich” is the headline dominating the front of the Sunday Times, as the paper says Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has likened the last-minute western diplomatic efforts to stop Russian aggression to appeasement. It is “highly likely” that Russia will invade Ukraine, Mr Wallace has said.
The Sunday Telegraph reports that Whitehall believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning a “false flag” attack as a pretext for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine as early as Wednesday. A government source told the paper Moscow is believed to be orchestrating a situation whereby it would try to justify attacking on the grounds that troops were “responding to Ukrainian or Western aggression”, according to the paper.
The Sunday Post reports there was “great unease” in the Crown Office over the 2011 decision to drop the rape case against footballer David Goodwillie. The striker, who was later ruled a rapist in a civil court, returned to the headlines recently after he was signed by Raith Rovers. The transfer triggered a massive backlash against the club before it confirmed the striker would never play for the team.
Plastic bottles collected in Scotland’s ambitious deposit return scheme are likely to “be exported for reprocessing” in the north of England – raising fears the SNP-Greens government will fail to take advantage of the economic and jobs benefits of the flagship recycling policy, reports The Herald on Sunday. Scotland’s deposit return scheme will lead to people paying a 20p deposit when they buy a drink that comes in a single-use container made of PET plastic, steel and aluminum, or glass.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has performed a “humiliating climbdown” over his demand for Boris Johnson to resign and cannot “credibly remain in post”, according to the SNP. The Sunday National says only a month after the Scottish Tory leader insisted Johnson must quit over the Downing Street Partygate scandal, it has emerged the prime minister has been invited to address the Scottish Conservative conference in March.
The Scottish government is commissioning research into attitudes to having children as part of efforts to tackle the country’s failing birth rate, reports Scotland on Sunday. It comes after the number of children born in Scotland in 2020 dropped to its lowest level since records began in 1855.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will be crowned side by side, the Scottish Mail on Sunday reports. According to the paper, the service at Westminster Abbey will be much shorter and cheaper than in the past, with Prince Charles’ Coronation service expected to set the tone for the rest of his reign. The paper notes that plans – codenamed Operation Golden Orb – are under way for an overhaul to the only remaining religious Coronation in Europe.
The Scottish Sunday Express’s lead story is an interview with Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is using his new appointment as minister for Brexit opportunities to talk about the so-called “big wins” on the way for Britain.
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