Russian President Vladimir Putin has held telephone talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The two sides discussed the internal Ukrainian crisis, NATO’s eastward expansion and the movement of Russian troops
During the conversation, Johnson expressed concern about alleged large-scale movements of Russian troops near the Ukrainian borders. The Russian leader detailed principled assessments of the current situation around Ukraine.
“Specific examples of Kiev’s destructive line to derail the Minsk agreements, which are the non-alternative basis for resolving the internal Ukrainian crisis, were given. It was also pointed out that the Ukrainian authorities are deliberately escalating the situation at the line of contact, using heavy weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles prohibited by the Minsk Package of Measures in the conflict zone”, – the Kremlin website said.
Putin also drew Johnson’s attention to Ukraine’s policy of discrimination against the Russian-speaking population. In addition, it was stressed during the talks that all this was taking place against the backdrop of the active military “development” of Ukrainian territory by NATO countries and posed a direct threat to Russia’s security.
“Putin said it was necessary to immediately start negotiations in order to work out clear international legal agreements that would rule out any further NATO expansion eastwards and the deployment of weapons threatening Russia in neighbouring states, first and foremost in Ukraine. The Russian side will present drafts of the relevant documents”, – the Kremlin concluded.