British foreign minister Boris Johnson will tell his Russian counterpart on Friday that there can be no “business as usual” until Moscow stops “destabilising” Europe and that Britain is ready to retaliate against any cyber attacks.
MOSCOW (Reuters) – British foreign minister Boris Johnson will tell his Russian counterpart on Friday that there can be no “business as usual” until Moscow stops “destabilising” Europe and that Britain is ready to retaliate against any cyber attacks.
Johnson is due to hold talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during what is the first visit to Russia by a British foreign minister in five years. He is also expected to meet Kremlin critics, students, and gay rights activists.
Johnson’s visit comes at a time when relations between London and Moscow are strained by differences over Ukraine and Syria as well as by allegations, which Russia flatly denies, of it meddling in the politics of various European countries and of backing cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns.
“Our relations with Russia cannot be ‘business as usual’ whilst Russia continues to attempt to destabilise European states, including Ukraine,” Johnson said in a statement released by his office before the talks.
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Zakharova has previously called Johnson unprofessional, organized an online cartoon competition that mocked him, and strongly disputed his assertions about Syria.
When asked before his trip what she made of Johnson’s statements criticizing Moscow, Zakharova said they had caused only laughter in Russia and were not worth getting upset about because they had come from Boris Johnson.
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