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Russian-UK relations plunged to low not seen in years, says Lavrov

Russia's top diplomat emphasized that his Thursday meeting with his British counterpart was unprecedented

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russian-British relations have hit a serious, multi-year low, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Thursday.

"The office of [British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson said that you and your colleague, the defense secretary, will travel to Russia in order to improve relations," Lavrov noted. "If this is the actual goal of our British colleagues, then we will definitely respond in kind because we cannot be satisfied with the relations that have perhaps reached their lowest levels in many years," he added.

Lavrov was hopeful that Moscow and London would succeed in restoring the mechanisms of bilateral cooperation, adding that "communication between any international players should have an added value for both parties, this is the only way to ensure positive results."

"Such attitudes immediately lead to positive things, and the continuing expansion of our trade, economic and investment cooperation, as well as of cultural and humanitarian ties, is proof of that," the Russian top diplomat pointed out. "I hope that we will be able to follow these examples to build normal interaction in other areas and restore mechanisms of bilateral cooperation and numerous interagency ties that were suspended quite a long time ago and not at our initiative," Lavrov noted.

He also emphasized that his Thursday meeting with the British top diplomat was unprecedented. "Our countries’ defense chiefs are going to meet in Moscow tomorrow," the Russian foreign minister added.

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