British and Russian foreign ministers clash over Ukraine crisis

 

The United Kingdom’s top diplomat urged Russia on Thursday to defuse tensions over the Ukraine crisis.

The UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned Russia to de-escalate the tensions in Ukraine. Truss openly clashed with her Russian counterpart in an encounter and warned Russia that attacking its neighbour would “have massive consequences”.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow won’t accept Western lecturing. This incident took place after their meeting in Moscow on Thursday afternoon. A press conference was held after the meeting. However, Lavrov walked out of the press conference, leaving Truss to face the press alone.

Lavrov described their two-hour session as a quarrelsome discussion. Lavrov reportedly said that relations between the two countries are "at their lowest in many years".

Truss, who is on a two-day visit to Russia's capital, warned Russia again to not attack Ukraine. She urged Russia to abide by international agreements that commit it to respect Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's chief said he had reiterated an offer to Moscow for renewed dialogue. This comes at a time when thousands of Russian troops began joint exercises in Belarus as part of a military buildup near Ukraine. The deployment of troops has prompted threats of Russia attacking its neighbour. However, Moscow denies planning an invasion. Truss said, "I can't see any other reason for having 100,000 troops stationed on the Ukrainian border apart from to threaten Ukraine.”

Lavrov rejected the UK's demand for a Russian military withdrawal from Belarus. He accused Western politicians of fanning tensions for domestic political purposes.

Ties between both countries were badly strained by the March 2018 poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in England.

Recently,  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "This is a very dangerous moment.” He also said that the UK is ready to deploy an extra 1,000 soldiers in the event of a "humanitarian crisis" linked to the tensions in Ukraine.