Russian and UK defense ministers to meet to discuss Ukraine

defense minister RussianSergei Shoigu accepted an invitation to meet with his counterpart BritishBen Wallace to discuss the crisis on the Russia-Ukraine border, a UK defense source said on Saturday.

“The secretary of defense is pleased that Russia has accepted the invitation to speak with his counterpart,” the source said.

“Since the last bilateral meeting between our two countries took place in London in 2013, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has proposed to meet in Moscow,” he added.

On the British side, “the minister made it clear that he would explore all avenues to achieve stability and resolve the Ukrainian crisis,” added the source, who specified that he was still “in communication with the Russian government” about the practical details.

The announcement of this bilateral meeting comes at a time of certain relaxation between the West and Moscow, which began on Friday, after several weeks of verbal escalation, in talks in Geneva between the heads of Russian and US diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov and Antony Blinken.

Both have agreed to continue their “frank” talks next week, giving UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hope that a Russian invasion or military incursion into Ukraine “will not happen.”

The West accuses Russia of concentrating tens of thousands of troops on the border to prepare an attack.

The Kremlin denies any warlike intention but conditions the de-escalation to treaties that guarantee the non-expansion of NATO, in particular to Ukraine, as well as the withdrawal of the Atlantic Alliance from Eastern Europe.

Something that Westerners consider unacceptable and threaten Russia with harsh sanctions in the event of an attack.

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