British Prime Minister Boris Johnson goes to Kiev, where he will discuss with the Ukrainian President, who welcomed Tuesday of diplomatic and military support received by his country.
Le Monde with AFP and Reuters
The time is diplomacy. The head of the Polish government, Mateusz Morawiecki, is expected, Tuesday 1 February, in Kiev. Meanwhile, in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes his Hungarian ally Viktor Orban. But above all, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson goes to Kiev, where he will discuss with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who, before the Ukrainian Parliament welcomed Tuesday of diplomatic and military support received by his country.
Discussions with Mr. Zelensky will focus on the strategic support brought by the United Kingdom to Ukraine. The British government has announced that it would help 88 million sterling pounds (105 million euros) to support stable governance and reduce Ukraine’s energy dependence on Russia.
“As a democratic AMI and partner, the United Kingdom will continue to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine against those seeking to destroy it,” said Johnson in a Downing Street statement. “We urge Russia to back down and engage in a dialogue to find a diplomatic solution and avoid new bloodshed”, continued the leader, who hopes to speak this week with Mr. Putin.
Boris Johnson had received President Zelensky in Downing Street in October 2020. The two men were agreed upon to intensify relations between their countries in areas such as defense, trade and political cooperation. Their last interview dates back to January 13, when they expressed their willingness to continue working closely, alongside international partners, to prevent aggression from Russia.
During his visit to Kiev, Mr. Johnson had to be accompanied by his leader of diplomacy, Liz Truss, but it announced in a Tweet Monday night she had been tested positive to the coronavirus and “will work [ IT] of the house “during its period of mandatory isolation. She announced on Monday to the British Parliament a bill to harden the United Kingdom sanctions plan; A device that could be used in case of attack of Russia against Ukraine.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Foreign Minister, and Annalya Baerbock, his German counterpart will go to the country on February 7th and 8th.
Interview Blinken-Lavrov
Washington and Moscow will also reconnect the dialogue in the aftermath of the United Nations Security Council (UN) with a telephone interview between US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov.
At the UN, the Russian ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Washington to seek “creating hysteria” and “deceiving the international community” with his “unfounded charges”. His American counterpart, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the deployment of more than 100,000 Russian soldiers around Ukraine threatened “international security”.
Moscow has been accused since the end of 2021 to have massage up to 100,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border for an attack. In return, United States and United Kingdom have brandished the threat of new sanctions against Moscow.
Russia denies any bellicose vellite, but conditions all deascalades to a list of requirements necessary, according to it, to guarantee its security, in particular the assurance that Ukraine will never be a member of the organization of the Treaty of The North Atlantic (NATO) and that the Alliance withdrew its men on its 1997 positions.