UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is looking to offer Russia reassurances over NATO’s role while also making it clear that some of Moscow’s demands and fears are unfounded.
Johnson’s spokesman said that NATO is a defensive alliance and that any European democracies are able, and should be able, to join.
Russia wants security guarantees from the West, including a promise that Ukraine will never be admitted to NATO. Johnson’s spokesman said that the West has been clear from the start that Russia’s concerns about NATO aggression are unfounded because NATO is a defensive alliance, not an offensive alliance.
The spokesman continued that the UK does want to work with Russia in order to provide diplomatic reassurances on this front.
Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. With 100,000 Russian troops amassed at the border with Ukraine, there are growing fears that Russia will soon invade Ukraine. Diplomatic routes have seemingly reached a stalemate.
Over the weekend, Johnson made an agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron that the UK and its NATO allies will be united in their fight against Russian aggression. In a phone call on Saturday, the two presidents discussed the worrying development of the Ukraine crisis and agreed that they needed to find a diplomatic solution.
Johnson went to Kyiv last week to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the visit, Johnson said that intelligence suggested an imminent military campaign by Russia and that the threat was a clear and present danger.
For the past week, Johnson has stressed the need for NATO to be united, including for allied countries to develop packages of sanctions to slap Russia with if the country did further invade Ukraine.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was also due to travel to Ukraine, but could not due to testing positive for Covid. Her diplomatic mission has been rescheduled to travel instead to Moscow soon.
Downing Street said that it has high confidence that Russia is going to fabricate a reason to attack Ukraine soon, and the specific reports were credible and deeply concerning.
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