UK Defence Chief Ben Wallace traveled to Moscow on Friday for talks with his Russian counterpart, a day after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Ahead of Wallace’s visit, The Times reported that the defense chief would “warn Putin’s generals” not to invade Ukraine.
Ben Wallace has announced Britain’s readiness to discuss Russia’s security proposals with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
“I hope that by speaking today and starting that relationship, that was at zero percent, we can resolve a number of issues that you’ve raised,” Wallace said, speaking to Shoigu in Moscow on Friday.
“[That] we can address some of the issues raised in Russia’s draft treaty that was sent [in December]…and we can try to move on to where we can resolve our issues together through diplomacy, through other actions, and through confidence-building measures,” he added.
Shoigu asked Wallace to explain why the UK has deployed its special forces troops in Ukraine, and why the West was “gorging” Kiev with weapons deliveries.
“For our part, we would also like to suggest to contribute to reducing tensions and stopping the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Weapons are coming from all sides and it is being done publicly, demonstrably. It’s not entirely clear why. I would like also to understand why the United Kingdom sent its special forces to Ukraine, and how long they will stay there,” Shoigu said.
The Russian defense chief constituted the military-political situation in Europe as becoming “more and more tense,” stressing that this was taking place by no fault of Moscow. “Unfortunately, the level of our cooperation is close to zero and is heading below zero; this is something we would like to avoid,” Shoigu stressed.
Source: Sputnik
