British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to visit Europe again this week to continue his diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis around Ukraine, his office announced on Sunday (February 13th).
Read alsoUkraine: can we stop the spiral of war?
In the coming days, Boris Johnson will speak to other leaders about the current situation and plans to visit Europe again towards the end of the week.
Two weeks ago, he went to Kiev to support Ukraine.
The Conservative leader would particularly like to talk to the leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries, after meeting last week with the NATO Secretary General and the leaders of the United States, France, Germany, the Canada, Italy, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Netherlands and EU.
“
The crisis on the Ukrainian border has reached a critical point.
All the information we have suggests that Russia could be planning an invasion of Ukraine at any time.
This would have dire consequences for Ukraine and Russia
,” a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement.
“
There is still a window of opportunity for de-escalation and diplomacy, and the Prime Minister will continue to work tirelessly alongside our allies to bring Russia back from the brink
,” he continued.
Moscow, which already annexed Crimea in 2014, denies any aggressive intentions towards Ukraine, but conditions de-escalation on a series of requirements, in particular the assurance that Kiev will never join NATO.
A condition that Westerners find unacceptable.
Several rounds of talks in recent days have failed to make progress towards a resolution of the crisis, which Westerners describe as one of the most dangerous since the end of the Cold War three decades ago.
Boris Johnson's diplomatic efforts come at a time when he is going through a difficult phase in his country.
Stuck in a scandal linked to parties organized in Downing Street in defiance of the rules against the coronavirus pandemic, Boris Johnson must respond this week to a questionnaire sent by the officers investigating these possible breaches of containment.
If he is found guilty, he could be fined but this would above all risk fueling the anger of the deputies of his Conservative camp who could launch a vote of no confidence to overthrow him.
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