Lavrov says Russia-UK relations at very low point

The Russia-UK ties are at a very low point, this did not happen on Russia’s initiative, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

Lavrov is meeting with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in Moscow.

“Dear Mr minister, colleagues, we are glad to welcome you in Moscow especially taking into account that the last time a head of the Foreign Office visited Moscow was five years ago.

“It is no secret that our relations are at a very low point, not on our initiative.

“We noted that you and our other western colleagues have your own point of view on the reasons behind this issue and prefer to speak of these reasons publicly.

“We would prefer to discuss mutual concerns directly,” Lavrov said at a joint press conference with Johnson.

This is the first visit of a UK foreign secretary to Russia over the past five and a half years.

Johnson, in turn, said that despite some difficult issues in the bilateral relations, there are some other issues, which the two sides are seeking to cooperate on.

“There are deep differences in our views but we share a responsibility to find ways to engage constructively,” Johnson said, as quoted by the UK Foreign Office.

The relations between Moscow and London have been quite tensed over the past several years due to existing disagreements on a number of issues.

In particular on the situation in eastern Ukraine as well as in Syria, which was accompanied by unfriendly statements by senior UK politicians with regard to Russia.

The bilateral political dialogue between the states has been completely discontinued.