The Kremlin confirmed on Monday that there had been contact between Britain's national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, and the Kremlin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, but the talks yielded no results.
According to Financial Times reports, Powell had sought to open a back-up channel with the Kremlin, as Britain and its European allies worry that the administration of US President Donald Trump may not take their interests into account over Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Britain had not shown a willingness to listen to Russia's position on the Ukrainian conflict. "There were indeed contacts... there was a dialogue, but it did not continue," he added.
Peskov also said that during the conversation there was a strong focus from the British side on European positions, while there was a lack of desire to listen to the Russian perspective. “Given that an exchange of views was impossible, mutual dialogue did not take place,” the Kremlin spokesman concluded.
This incident highlights the tensions in international relations regarding the stance on the conflict in Ukraine and the difficulties of dialogue between the West and Moscow.
