UK Foreign, Defense Chiefs' Visit to Moscow Planned for Mid-February, Russian Ambassador Says
06:43 GMT 04.02.2022 (Updated: 15:18 GMT 28.05.2023)
© Sputnik / Alexey Druzginin/Anton Denisov/Russian Presidential Press Office
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LONDON (Sputnik) - Last week, the UK government said that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had asked Wallace and Truss to travel to Russia for talks in the coming days. But on Monday, Truss said that she'd tested positive for COVID-19 and would be working from home.
The visits of UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to Moscow are planned for mid-February, Russian Ambassador in London Andrei Kelin said in an interview with Sputnik.
"It will be somewhere between the end of the first ten days and the beginning of the second ten days of February. I would not like to talk about specific days, because, as you know, Liz Truss has suddenly fallen ill. I hope that she will recover, and, according to my information, she is preparing for this trip; a delegation has already been formed," Kelin said.
The visits of Truss and Wallace will be separate and one will follow the other.
"Following Liz Truss, the defence minister is going to Moscow," Kelin noted.
Initially, Truss and Wallace were scheduled to visit Moscow earlier, but on 31 January Truss said that she has been infected with COVID-19 and would have to postpone her trip.
The planned visits come amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West, with the latter claiming that Moscow is preparing an intervention into Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly denied Western accusations, stressing that it has the right to move troops within its national territory and it is not threatening anyone, while at the same time pointing out NATO's increased activity near Russian borders.
Moscow has also been expressing concerns over Western military support for Ukraine, including weapons deliveries and an increased number of Western military advisers in Donbass.
Moscow has also been expressing concerns over Western military support for Ukraine, including weapons deliveries and an increased number of Western military advisers in Donbass.
