Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks in Moscow with British Foreign Minister Liz Truss. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that relations between Moscow and London had reached their lowest point in many years. Lavrov expressed hope that the countries will be able to restore bilateral cooperation, and Liz Truss expects that the talks will help strengthen European security. Moscow will reciprocate if London aims to improve its attitude towards Russia. This was stated by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at talks with his British counterpart Liz Truss.

"[British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson's office has announced that your colleague, Defense Secretary [Ben Wallace], will travel to Russia to improve relations," the Russian foreign minister was quoted as saying by TASS. “If this is indeed the task of our British colleagues, then we, of course, will reciprocate, because we cannot be satisfied with relations, which are probably at their lowest point in many years.”

The head of Russian diplomacy, opening negotiations with his British counterpart, drew attention to the unprecedented nature of the current meeting.

“Literally tomorrow, the heads of the ministries of defense of our countries are also meeting in Moscow,” he noted.

Lavrov emphasized that it is possible to normalize relations between countries only through an equal dialogue. In his opinion, "ideologized approaches, ultimatums, threats, moralizing are the way to nowhere." “Unfortunately, many of our Western colleagues are now carried away by just this form of their public activity,” the Russian minister pointed out.

In turn, Liz Truss said she was glad to be present at the talks on Diplomatic Worker's Day (a professional holiday celebrated in Russia on February 10). In response, Lavrov asked the translators not to translate the speech of the head of the British Foreign Office into Russian. “Everyone understands everything here,” the minister said.

The head of British diplomacy expressed hope that her meeting with Lavrov would make progress in strengthening European security.

“As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, I am here to urge Russia to follow the path [of diplomacy],” she said. “Russia can strengthen its status as a member of the UN Security Council Five by abandoning the rhetoric of the Cold War and instead engaging in a meaningful dialogue with NATO to strengthen European security.”

According to Truss, Russia-NATO dialogue "should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, which Russia signed into the 1994 [Budapest] memorandum." “If these principles are respected, I am confident that in today's negotiations we can make progress to improve security for all,” she said.

According to the head of the British Foreign Office, London will not ignore the increase in the number of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine. “In a fundamental sense, a war in Ukraine would have catastrophic consequences for the peoples of Russia and Ukraine, and for European security. NATO has made it clear that any invasion of Ukraine will have huge consequences and will bring serious costs, ”she said.

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Cooperation and security guarantees

Lavrov expressed hope that Moscow and London would be able to establish mechanisms for bilateral cooperation, stressing that "the communication of any two subjects of international life should have an added value for both sides" in order for positive results to appear.

“I hope that we will be able to establish normal interaction... We will be able to restore the mechanism of bilateral cooperation, numerous interdepartmental ties that were interrupted quite a long time ago and not on our initiative,” the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Lavrov said he was ready to discuss issues related to the implementation of Moscow's proposals for security guarantees.

“Of course, our countries, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, allies in the Second World War, which resulted in the formation of a modern security architecture, bear a special responsibility for curbing negative trends in international relations, entering into a mutually respectful dialogue, and searching for solutions that will ensure the interests of all states without exception," TASS quoted the minister as saying.

H4 Gift for the Day of the Diplomat / H4 The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharov, commenting on the Liz track's visit to Moscow, called him the "gift of Anglo-Saxon diplomacy of Russian diplomacy."

“We understand that this is a gift from the Anglo-Saxon diplomacy of Russian diplomacy on the occasion of the Diplomatic Worker’s Day, so we will spend our holiday with dignity today directly at the workplace – negotiations with British partners,” Zakharova told Russia-24 TV channel.

She previously reported that at the talks in Moscow, the heads of diplomatic departments will discuss European security and the development of legally fixed long-term security guarantees. The British Embassy in Moscow noted that Truss intends to raise the topic of Ukraine.

bbabo.Net