The level of Russian-British relations is coming close to zero, and it is time to stop exacerbating relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting with his British counterpart Ben Wallace on Friday.
It is our first meeting in recent years. Regrettably, the level of our cooperation is close to zero and is about to cross the zero meridian and go into the red, which we do not want. Therefore, I do hope for the opportunity to discuss the most pressing issues with you, without ratcheting or rising even higher the temperature in relations between Russia and the countries of the NATO bloc. And especially with the UK, taking into consideration the historical experience of our cooperation and military interaction," Shoigu said.
"Because nowadays, we see that attention is getting more and more concentrated, excessively concentrated, on the issues which, in our view, could have been resolved quite calmly, in the dialogue between all the countries, without threats of any sorts of sanctions," the Russian minister said.
"I believe there are already no words left in both English and Russian dictionaries that can define these sanctions. Among them are ‘catastrophic’, ‘shocking’ and ‘destructive’. A lot of different words," Shoigu stated.
The Russian defense minister pointed out that before the meeting he had carefully studied the speeches of his British counterpart along with the speeches of his colleagues.
"Sadly, we still see the threat of sanctions across the line in every speech. I would not like our conversation today to be a continuation of such interviews," Shoigu said.
There was ‘no deafness or blindness’ at a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu held in a constructive atmosphere, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said at a press conference after the talks broadcast live by Sky News from the British embassy in Moscow.
"Mr. Lavrov is a master at these types of engagements and making those type of comments," the UK defense chief said, responding to a request to comment on a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who described his negotiations with his British counterpart, Liz Truss, on Thursday as "a conversation between deaf and dumb."
As the UK defense chief emphasized, in his discussion with Shoigu "there was absolutely no deafness or blindness." He also said that both of them were aware that they were responsible for their troops and "should anything go wrong, it is they who ultimately pay, sometimes the ultimate price."
"We deal with the facts and we deal with the issues we have because it is in both our interests to resolve that," Wallace pointed out, adding that the meeting was constructive and sincere.
The UK defense chief said he hoped that the discussion had "contributed to a better atmosphere and to de-escalation", although he said that there was "still a considerable way to go between the two of us".
The military and political situation on the European continent has deteriorated significantly over tension fueled around Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting with his UK counterpart Ben Wallace in Moscow, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday.
"The agenda included the most pressing issues of European security and interaction between the defense ministries of both countries. Army General S. K. Shoigu pointed out that the military and political situation in Europe had worsened considerably due to tension whipped up around Ukraine and NATO’s military presence near the Russian borders, which requires taking urgent measures to ensure security guarantees for the Russian Federation," Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement released after the meeting.
The West and Kiev have recently been spreading allegations about Russia’s potential ‘invasion’ of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded," serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such allegations and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have very serious consequences.
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