The British Prime Minister called the President of Russia. After the conversation, they discussed a number of topics, including bilateral relations. Messages from the Kremlin and Downing Street on the topic of relations between Moscow and London differ
Boris Johnson
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. During the talks, they, in particular, discussed the situation in Afghanistan, the Kremlin’s press service reports.
“When discussing the situation in Afghanistan, Vladimir Putin informed [Johnson] about the results of the consultations held last week in the Russian capital of the expanded troika meeting within the framework of the Moscow format,” the message says.
The press service of the British government reports that when discussing the Afghan problem, Johnson stressed the importance of any recognition of the Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) depending on the behavior of its members, including respect for human rights.
In addition, they discussed the preservation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program, as well as the situation in Donbass. “Putin outlined in detail Russia’s approach to the settlement of the internal Ukrainian conflict with the unconditional implementation of the Minsk agreements,” the Kremlin noted.
In addition, Putin and Johnson discussed relations between Moscow and London. “A mutual opinion was expressed that, despite the existence of known problems, it was necessary to establish cooperation between Moscow and London in a number of areas,” the press service of the Russian president said.
At the same time, Johnson’s press service described the discussion of bilateral relations as follows: “The Prime Minister made it clear that Britain’s current relations with Russia are not what they need. He said significant bilateral difficulties remain, including the poisoning in Salisbury in 2018.
In June, Johnson said that he does not lose hope for improving relations with Russia, although the current development of events is disappointing. “I always hope that relations with Russia will improve, but I’m afraid that so far from the point of view of the UK it has been quite disappointing,” he said.
At the same time, the prime minister recalled that during his meeting with Putin he made it clear: “We are ready to do things differently, we are ready for closer relations.” However, for this, according to him, Moscow must “change its manner of behavior”.
Putin and Johnson met in early 2020 as part of an international conference on Libya in Berlin. They discussed bilateral relations and international issues, including the situation in Libya.
After the meeting, the British Prime Minister’s office published a message saying that during this contact Johnson told the Russian president that the UK’s position on the incident in Salisbury, where ex-GRU employee Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned, remains unchanged. Prime Minister, according toAccording to the report, he also called the attempt to kill innocent people on British soil “reckless.” The report also says that Johnson pointed out that relations between Moscow and London will not normalize until Russia stops “destabilizing activities that threaten the UK and its allies.”
The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that the content of the meeting between Putin and Johnson differed from the official statements of the British government. “The essence of the contact is clearly different from the essence of Downing Street’s message about the conversation that took place, this can be stated,” he said.
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