Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday there had been contact between UK National Security, Jonathan Nicholas Powell, and Russian foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, but the dialogue was unsuccessful.
The Financial Times reported that Powell attempted to establish a back channel to the Kremlin due to concerns from Britain and its European allies that the Trump administration might sideline their interests regarding Ukraine.
How did the Kremlin describe its contact with the UK?
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the UK had not expressed any willingness to hear Russia’s perspective on the Ukraine conflict.
“There were indeed contacts,”
Peskov said.
“A dialogue took place, but it did not continue.”
He did not say when the conversation took place.
“During this contact there was an acute desire of the interlocutor to talk about the position of the Europeans and there was a lack of any intention or desire to listen to our position,”
Peskov said.
“Given the impossibility of exchanging views, the mutual dialogue has not developed.”
When did Powell and Ushakov hold their brief conversation?
Sources report that UK national security adviser Jonathan Powell, a seasoned negotiator instrumental in the Northern Ireland peace process, contacted Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov earlier this year, according to three sources familiar with the efforts.
However, the phone call between the two was a one-time occurrence and did not succeed in gaining access to Putin’s inner circle, according to sources, with one stating it
“did not go well.”
How have UK-Russia relations evolved since the Ukraine war?
In today’s world, diplomatic relations are still formal in Europe, with frequent contacts between embassies and governments. However, these interactions have been affected by tensions from geopolitical conflicts, especially after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine since 2014, and the Russia-Ukraine war that began in 2022.
The UK strongly condemned Russia’s actions and became one of the main European countries offering military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This included weapons and intelligence support.
In response, Russia expelled British diplomats, accusing them of spying. The UK responded by expelling Russian diplomats. Russia also placed the UK on its list of “unfriendly countries” and imposed sanctions and countermeasures. The UK imposed extensive sanctions on Russian individuals, businesses, and sectors like oil to pressure Russia to end the war.
