LONDON, January 29. /TASS/. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expects to have a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week to call on him to start a diplomatic dialogue on Ukraine, a Downing Street spokeswoman announced on Friday.

"The Prime Minister is determined to accelerate diplomatic efforts and ramp up deterrence to avoid bloodshed in Europe. He will reiterate the need for Russia to step back and engage diplomatically when he speaks to President Putin this week," she said.

In turn, a source in the British government circles told TASS that in addition to a telephone conversation with the Russian leader, Johnson plans to "make a trip to the region in the coming days." In response to a clarifying question the source added that this will be a trip to Eastern Europe. The source did not specify which country or countries the British Prime Minister intends to visit.

On Tuesday, Johnson, speaking before the parliament, declared his readiness to hold a conversation with Putin in order to discuss the situation around Ukraine and security issues.

On Wednesday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that a conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not being planned yet.

Earlier on January 17, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that he invited his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu to visit London to discuss issues related to mutual security concerns and engage in a meaningful dialogue in the spirit of goodwill. On January 21, Shoigu sent Wallace an invitation to visit Moscow confirming his readiness to discuss all the pressing security issues. It was reported that the possibility of such a visit by Wallace was being studied.