London and Moscow held secret talks

According to RT, an article in the British publication The i on Friday said that UK government officials held secret diplomatic talks with Kremlin representatives on international security measures during the conflict in Ukraine.

The article said that dialogue had been taking place in cities such as Vienna and New York over the past 18 months, addressing issues such as grain shortages and nuclear safety. However, the newspaper quoted unnamed British officials as saying that finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine was not discussed.

“We have maintained contact and felt it was important to maintain an open dialogue during the war in Ukraine. We are not dividing up parts of the country or making peace agreements on behalf of anyone, but it is important to keep that line of communication open.”

Grain prices have surged since Moscow withdrew in July from the 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal that would have allowed Ukraine to export grain from its ports to countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa in exchange for the lifting of sanctions that had hampered Russian agricultural exports.

However, Moscow has insisted that the West continues to block Russian shipments of food and fertiliser. UK officials have also demanded nuclear security guarantees during the conflict, including at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, amid fears of a possible radioactive disaster.

The British diplomat told the newspaper that the UK had a “clear strategic position” on Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine and that it was “one of the very few issues” on which the UK was in full agreement with NATO and other allies, so it would be “very odd” if British diplomats were given the power to try to negotiate a ceasefire.

A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the UK's Foreign Office, confirmed to The i that discussions with Russian officials had taken place only when “absolutely necessary” but stressed that the UK was not in the position of making any decisions on behalf of Kiev.

“Ukraine and the Ukrainian government must determine their positions in any negotiations, just as Ukraine determines its own free and democratic future,” the spokesman said.

In July, NBC reported that a group of former senior US national security officials held discussions with key Russian figures, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The meetings were aimed at laying the groundwork for measures to end the conflict in Ukraine, the source said.

On September 23, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya told the press that Moscow has been holding informal discussions with a number of "European colleagues" in which "life, various issues and politics" are discussed.

Hoang Bach