On Monday, December 13, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is reported by the Kremlin’s press service.
In the focus of the discussion:
- the outcome of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Glasgow under the United Kingdom’s chairmanship
- situation in Afghanistan, including possible recognition of the Taliban,
- cooperation on the Iranian nuclear program
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Boris Johnson expressed concern about the large-scale troop movements near the Ukrainian border. In this regard, Vladimir Putin once again named the conflict an ‘internal’ Ukrainian issue and complained about Kyiv’s allegedly destructive behavior.
“Specific examples of Kyiv's destructive course on derailing the Minsk agreements, which are the only viable path towards resolving the internal Ukraine crisis, were given. It was also pointed out that the Ukrainian authorities are purposefully aggravating the situation on the line of contact and are using heavy weapons and attack drones, which are prohibited by the Minsk Package of Measures in the conflict zone. Ukraine’s policy of discrimination against Russian-speaking people was pointed out as well,” the message reads.
Putin also emphasized that allegedly active military “exploration” of Ukraine’s territory by NATO “poses a direct threat to Russia’s security”.
Putin also accused the Ukrainian authorities of discriminating against the Russian-speaking population and recalled the "active military "development" of Ukraine's territory by NATO countries, which poses a direct threat to Russia's security".
“Vladimir Putin stated the need to immediately begin talks in order to develop clear international legal agreements that can preclude NATO’s further eastward advance and the deployment of weapons that pose a threat to Russia in neighboring states, primarily Ukraine. Russia will present draft documents to this end,” the press service reports.
The leaders agreed to continue to discuss the issues raised during the conversation through various channels.