Truss and Le Drian Discuss 'Challenging Aggressors Like Russia'
05:41 GMT 12.12.2021 (Updated: 10:23 GMT 12.12.2021)
© REUTERS / HENRY NICHOLLS
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LONDON (Sputnik) - UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss discussed international and bilateral issues with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Liverpool during the G7 foreign and development ministers' meeting.
"As fellow free-market democracies with historic ties, they agreed that the UK and France must make common cause in promoting freedom and democracy globally and challenging aggressors like Russia. The foreign secretary stressed the need for a practical, pragmatic approach to bilateral issues like migration, fishing rights, and trade", a spokesperson for the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a Saturday statement.
During Saturday talks's in Liverpool, Truss and Le Drian also discussed cooperation in the Sahel, as well as economic ties.
On Friday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen discussed with new German Finance Minister Christian Lindner the United States' interest in cooperating with Germany on contingency plans to impose severe costs on Russia's economy should military escalation occur against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, during a phone conversation on Friday, agreed on the need to resume Normandy Format negotiations.
Tanks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are seen during drills at an unknown location near the border of Crimea, Russia, in this handout picture released by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine press service on 14 April 2021.
© REUTERS / General Staff of the Armed Force
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a secure telephone call with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, discussing the alleged gathering of Russian troops near Ukraine's borders.
Over the past several weeks, Kiev and some Western countries have accused Moscow of amassing troops near its border with Ukraine. Moscow, for its part, has repeatedly rejected the accusations saying that the West wants to use them as an excuse to deploy NATO military equipment near the Russian border.
The US State Department said on Saturday that Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried will visit Moscow and Kiev on 13-15 December and will then meet with EU representatives in Brussels to discuss a diplomatic resolution of the situation in Ukraine.
