Britain would prefer additional communication channels with Russia, Streeting says

Britain ​would prefer to have additional ​channels of communication with ‌Russia, particularly at ​a military-to-military level to reduce the risk of miscalculation, defence minister Wes Streeting said, ‌according to a Financial Times interview published on Tuesday.

"We have our embassy in Moscow. That is an important channel ... I would much prefer there ‌to be additional channels too, particularly military-to-military level," Streeting told the ‌FT. "There is always a risk of miscalculation and that's why having that direct communication is important," he said.

Streeting's comments come as Russian and Ukrainian officials planned to ⁠meet ​on Tuesday for ⁠two days of US-brokered talks — their first since February — after President Donald Trump suggested ⁠last week that a broad peace deal was possible in their 4-1/2-year-old war, ​which could incorporate Europe's security. Relations between Moscow and most European capitals, including ⁠London, have been frozen since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

However, the foreign ministers ⁠of ​Russia and Germany met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September in the first such ⁠talks since the invasion. Last week, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that Russian ⁠President Vladimir ⁠Putin will not travel to a G20 summit in Britain because of UK sanctions against him.