Russian foreign minister compares negotiations Liz Truss ‘like talking to a deaf person’

Foreign secretary Liz Truss has today held a press conference with her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Addressing reporters in Moscow, Truss stressed that Russian officials had stressed they had “no plans to invade Ukraine”, but that the UK hoped this assurance would be “followed up by actions.”

Truss explained: “I can’t see any other reason for having 100,000 troops stationed on the Ukrainian border apart from to threaten Ukraine, and if Russia is serious about diplomacy they need to move those troops and desist from the threats.”

Lavrov hit back, saying that “demands to remove Russian troop from Russian territory” are “regrettable” and that talks with the British foreign secretary were “like speaking to a deaf person who listens but does not hear”.

Truss claimed that there was “still time for Russia to end its aggression towards Ukraine and pursue the path of diplomacy.”

“But Nato is very clear that if that path is not chosen there will be severe consequences for Russia, Ukraine and the whole of Europe.”

She also went on to say that Russia was “attempting to destabilise Ukrainian democracy” via “hybrid warfare and amassing over 100,000 troops on the border in a threatening manner”, but that this had strengthened Nato’s resolve against the Kremlin.

She reiterated previous threats that The UK would put in place “severe sanctions targeting individuals and institutions” in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In a joint press conference with Nato’s secretary-general in Brussels earlier today, prime minister Boris Johnson reiterated Nato’s shared “commitment to collective security”.

1000 British troops are currently on standby in the event of a humanitarian crisis in eastern Europe should a Russian invasion take place.