Britain takes seriously Russia’s claims that it has no plans to invade Ukraine. This was announced by the Minister of Defense of the United Kingdom, Ben Wallace, after negotiations with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.. Unlike the meeting of the Foreign Ministers, which took place the day before, the dialogue between the heads of the defense departments brought encouraging results – in particular, the parties reported that they could restore cooperation between the military. However, according to experts interviewed by Izvestia, the meetings with British ministers did not bring a breakthrough on security guarantees.
In a two-by-two format
On February 11, a meeting was held in Moscow between Russian and British Defense Ministers Sergei Shoigu and Ben Wallace. It took place the day after the negotiations between the head of the British Foreign Office Elizabeth Truss and her Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov. And if the Russian and British diplomats have not met for almost five years, then the defense ministers have not seen each other since 2013.
Diplomatic dialogue did not work out – the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry described this meeting as “a conversation between a deaf and a dumb”, in which there was “nothing confidential”, and therefore there were fears that the military would certainly not agree on anything. According to British media reports, there was an impression that Ben Wallace was going to Moscow with the same message as Elizabeth Truss – to demand de-escalation from Moscow around Ukraine as uncompromisingly as possible. The day before, the minister said that the situation at the border was becoming more and more tense.
Moreover, Ben Wallace arrives at talks armed with new sanctions: The day before, the British government introduced amendments to the relevant law, and now, if Russia invades Ukraine, sanctions will hit almost all sectors of its economy – from the chemical industry and energy to media and digital technologies.
Moscow is categorically not satisfied with this state of affairs..
— Today we are seeing more and more attention <...> on issues that, in our opinion, could be resolved quite calmly, in a dialogue between all countries, without the threat of imposing certain sanctions, – said Sergei Shoigu at the meeting. — <…> Unfortunately, we still see threats of sanctions through every speech. I would not like our today’s conversation to be a continuation of this kind of interview.
However, contrary to all assumptions, the outcome of the meeting was much more encouraging. So, judging by the message of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the parties can restore cooperation along the military line At least they are ready to consider such a possibility. The central issues were the escalation around Ukraine and Moscow’s demands for security guarantees.
After the meeting, Ben Wallace gave a press conference at the British embassy (Sergei Shoigu did not come out to reporters). “It was a constructive and frank discussion”, in which “there were neither blind nor deaf”assured those present that London wants “strong relations with the Russian people, with the Russian economy,” the British minister said.
In the situation around Ukraine, Britain plays an important role: along with the United States, it actively promotes the thesis of an allegedly impending Russian invasion and supplies Kiev with lethal weapons. This frankly irritates the Russian leadership, since, in its assessment, it pushes Ukraine towards a military solution to the conflict in Donbass. At the talks, Sergei Shoigu suggested that Britain “make its contribution” to the de-escalation and stop “stuffing” Ukraine with weapons.
— I would also like to understand why Britain, the kingdom, sent its special forces to Ukraine, and how long will it stay there? the Russian minister asked his colleague.
Speaking at a press conference, Ben Wallace clarified Britain’s position. Asked by Izvestia whether London was considering at least a temporary waiver of such supplies so that this factor does not undermine the ongoing dialogue on security guarantees, Ben Wallace said: The Kingdom sent only a small group of instructors and a shipment of weapons to Ukraine. These weapons are “defensive, tactical, not strategic, they have a short range,” and they do not threaten another state, “unless that state decides to launch an invasion,” the British minister stressed. He also added that the military will return soon.
Given the statement of Sergei Shoigu, these nuances in the eyes of Moscow do not justify British supplies to Ukraine.
The question of goal setting
— He (Sergey Shoigu. – Izvestia) is a very experienced minister, like the head of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces [Валерий Герасимов]and when they tell me they won’t invade Ukraine we take it seriouslybut we will also look at the activities that will accompany these [слова]- said the minister, noting that, in addition to Ukraine, he and Sergei Shoigu discussed several points of Russian proposals for security guarantees.
The rhetoric that Ben Wallace adhered to at the press conference created the impression that, in tandem with the head of the Foreign Office, it was he who assumed the diplomatic role.
– It has traditionally been defense ministers deal with more specific tasks. Hence, it should be expected that their negotiations are more focused on the result. Foreign ministers are engaged in voicing and promoting the positions of their states, taking into account political approaches– Andrey Baklitsky, a senior researcher at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO, a consultant at the PIR Center, explained to Izvestia. – But whatever the rhetoric, the end result is about the same: not a single British minister said anything substantive about the demands of the Russian Federation on Security Guarantees and did not clarify how the UK understands the concept of indivisible security, as asked by Moscow.
The visits of Ben Wallace and his colleagues from the Foreign Office fit into a series of trips that European politicians and diplomats have been making to Moscow in recent weeks in the context of the aggravation around Ukraine. For a month and a half, the Foreign Ministers of Croatia and Germany, the Prime Minister of Hungary and the President of France came here. Visits of the Foreign Ministers of Poland and Greece and the Chancellor of Germany are expected next week.
According to Andrei Baklitsky, a number of these trips are aimed at stabilizing the situation: the West is worried that there will be a military conflict, and all actions are aimed at preventing it.
– If you proceed from the fact that there will be no war, then yes, the negotiations are not very productive. If you are worried that the war will still happen, you went to Moscow, returned, and nothing happened, then it turns out that you went well, the expert concluded.
Apart from the current controversy, there are many other reasons for British representatives to travel to Russia, analysts say.
— Britain, having left the European Union, positions itself as an independent international player; it proclaimed a new strategy – Global Britain, which involves activity, including in the Russian direction, – Andrey Kortunov, head of the Russian Council on Foreign Affairs, explained to Izvestia. — Russian-British relations are very complicated: the Kingdom has always been among those who sharply criticize Russia – in addition to general differences between the Russian Federation and the West, there are also specific bilateral contradictions.
However, despite political differences, there are many factors that bring Russia and the UK closer: in particular, there are close financial and economic ties between them; so one should not be surprised at the current visits, the expert concluded.
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