Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu invited his British counterpart Ben Wallace to hold talks in Moscow.
“Sergey Shoigu confirmed to his British counterpart his readiness to discuss all pressing security issues and, based on the principles of reciprocity, offered to hold talks in Moscow at any time convenient for the British Minister of Defense,” the Russian military department said.
In his address, Shoigu reminded Wallace that “the possibility of a constructive dialogue was demonstrated by the parties during the visit of the Russian delegation to London in 2013.” At that time, the ministerial talks were held in the 2+2 format.
“The resumption of contacts in the spirit of goodwill between Russia and the UK will help reduce tensions in Europe,” Shoigu was quoted as saying.
On January 17, during a speech in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Wallace invited Shoigu to visit London. According to him, the British side is ready to conduct a constructive dialogue in good faith and discuss issues on common security concerns.
Negotiations on security guarantees were held in three stages in January. On January 10, a meeting of Russian and US delegations took place in Geneva, on January 12, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council was held in Brussels, and on January 13, consultations at the Vienna site of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ended.
On December 18, Wallace called it unlikely that NATO would send troops to Ukraine, since it is not a member of the alliance. At the same time, the minister did not specify whether the kingdom would join the United States in arming Ukraine.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia, the United States and NATO on security guarantees. It follows from the documents that the alliance must renounce any military activity on the territory of Ukraine and other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Also, Russia and NATO must pledge not to create conditions that can be regarded as a threat by the other side.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
