Johnson-Putin summit possible if Russia ends ‘malign activity’, defence secretary says
A summit between Boris Johnson and Vladimir Putin might be possible if Russia’s president ceases “malign activity” against the UK and its allies, the defence secretary has signalled.
Ben Wallace said it was important to offer a “path out, a path to improvement” and called a landmark meeting between Mr Putin and US President Joe Biden this week a “really welcome start“.
But the senior minister told Sky News that Western powers would judge Moscow on what it does next before any warming of ties, which have been brought to a post-Cold War low by Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the Salisbury spy poisonings.
The troops were equipped with armoured vehicles, a helicopter and a small drone. Pic: MOD
Asked if he thought the Kremlin might want relations with the UK to improve, the defence secretary said: “I hope so. But we will judge them on their actions. Diplomacy is only valuable if the actions that follow actually make a difference.”
He said he remained concerned about an incident last month when the Russia-backed regime of Belarus forced a civilian airliner to land and seized a journalist on board.
Mr Wallace, who spoke on a two-day trip to Serbia this week, the first by a British defence secretary, also pointed to the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
“We, unfortunately, still see malign activity. But I think we will judge President Putin by his actions,” he said.
As to whether there was a chance of a UK-Russia summit, Mr Wallace indicated it was a possibility if the Russian president showed some positive signs of change.
“Boris Johnson is clearly open to meet anyone where there is an important step to be made and stepping towards normalising relations with Russia will obviously and hopefully come, but it comes following certain actions,” he said.
Troops practised how to respond to a terrorist attack on a convoy and deal with rioting civilians. Pic: MOD
“Crimea is still illegally occupied in Ukraine and there are still things to resolve.”
Pressed again on whether he hoped such a summit could possibly happen, the defence secretary said: “I don’t want a permanent friction between Russia and the West. That is not in anybody’s interest.
“It is not in the interests of the Russian people, it’s not in the interests of the economy of Russia, it’s not in the interests of my population and constituents either.
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“Listen, no one wants conflict. No one wants friction but that is not cost-free, you have to lift that based on behaviours.”
He said the Kremlin must recognise and respect “other people’s sovereignty and the international rule of law” before any improvement in relations, such as a lifting of sanctions, could happen.
Mr Wallace is the first UK defence secretary to make an official visit to Serbia. Pic: MOD
“But we’ve always got to offer people a path out, a path to improvement and I think that bilateral between President Biden and President Putin is a really welcome start,” Mr Wallace added, referring to the summit in Geneva on Wednesday.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a multinational military exercise at a base in the south of Serbia, about six miles from the border with Kosovo.
Troops, equipped with armoured vehicles, a helicopter and a small drone, practised how to respond to a terrorist attack on a convoy and deal with rioting civilians, as Mr Wallace, Serbian defence minister Nebojsa Stefanovic and other officials watched from a stand.
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With 70 British soldiers involved, the UK was the largest foreign contributor to the exercise – dubbed “Platinum Wolf” – which takes place across two weeks and, as well as Serbian forces, includes troops from eight other nations, such as France and the United States.
The visit by Mr Wallace is evidence of the UK’s desire to strengthen ties with a country it once bombed as part of a NATO mission during the Kosovo War more than 20 years ago, but which it previously fought alongside during both world wars.
“The Balkans matter for the security of Europe,” Mr Wallace said. “It’s always mattered. That is why 80 years ago we were standing on hills together side by side pushing back the Nazis. That importance, that geographic importance, that strategic importance still matters today.”
Mr Wallace unveiled a memorial to the rescue of thousands of airmen, partisans and civilians from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia during the Second World War. Pic: MOD
Underlining the challenges in this region, at the same time as British troops train with the Serbian military, forces from Serbia are conducting an exercise with their Russian and Belarussian counterparts in Russia.
Asked whose forces Serbia liked training with more – British or Russian – the Serbian defence minister told Sky News: “We are militarily neutral, so we don’t have to prefer to train with either, we can choose both and that’s our advantage.
He added: “We get the best from East and West in training capabilities, in learning about the tactics… As a militarily neutral country we want to work with everyone in order to get our army as professional as possible.”
Pope Francis is in a critical condition after a “prolonged respiratory crisis” that required a high-flow of oxygen and is “suffering more than yesterday”, the Vatican has said.
The 88-year-old has been in hospital for more than a week being treated for double pneumonia and chronic bronchitis.
In an update on Saturday evening, the Vatican said “the Holy Father’s condition continues to be critical”, adding that this morning he “presented with a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis” which required the application of high-flow oxygen.
He also had blood transfusions after tests revealed thrombocytopenia, which is associated with anemia.
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Pope Francis ‘not out of danger’
“The Holy Father continues to be vigilant and spent the day in an armchair even though he was suffering more than yesterday. At the moment the prognosis is reserved,” the Vatican’s statement said.
In an update earlier on Saturday morning – the shortest since Francis was admitted to hospital on 14 February – the Vatican said he will not lead Sunday prayers for the second week running, adding: “The Pope rested well.”
Francis is likely to prepare a written homily for someone else to read at Sunday’s Angelus.
Millions of people around the world have been concerned about the Pope’s increasingly frail health – and his condition has given rise to speculation over a possible resignation, which the Vatican has not commented on.
Doctors on Friday said he was “not out of danger” and was expected to remain at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for at least another week.
Sergio Alfieri, the chief of the pontiff’s medical team, said: “Is he out of danger? No. But if the question is ‘is he in danger of death’, the answer is ‘no’.”
Sergio Alfieri (R) said Pope Francis was a ‘fragile patient’ but was in ‘good spirits’. Pic: AP
He said Francis was affected by seasonal flu before being taken to hospital and that, “due to his challenging duties”, he had suffered fatigue.
He is also fighting a multipronged infection of bacteria and viruses in the respiratory tract.
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The doctors warned that while he did not have sepsis – where germs enter the bloodstream – there was always a risk the infection could spread in his body, and they said that was the biggest concern.
Sepsis is a complication of an infection that can lead to organ failure and death.
Pope Francis has a history of respiratory illness, having lost part of one of his lungs to pleurisy as a young man. He had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023.
One person has been killed and two police officers seriously injured in a knife attack in eastern France.
A man attacked people in Mulhouse, near the German border, at around 4pm on Saturday.
Prosecutors said a 37-year-old Algerian had been arrested and the person who died was a civilian who tried to intervene.
“Horror has just gripped our city,” mayor Michele Lutz said on Facebook.
The man shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) as he attacked the police officers, prosecutors added.
President Macron told BFMTV it was “beyond doubt” it was an “Islamist terrorist act”. He said the interior minister was heading to Mulhouse and would speak later.
The attacker is said to have been at a police station – where he was due to sign a document for his detention – but refused and ran into the market where he launched the attack.
One police officer was stabbed in the neck and another in the chest, according to French media. Three other police sustained very minor injuries.
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The knifeman had reportedly been under house arrest and was on a terror watchlist.
The French attack comes a day after a stabbing by a 19-year-old Syrian refugee at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial.
A Spanish tourist was badly injured but is expected to survive.
The attacker is said to have wanted to kill Jewish people after being motivated by the conflict in the Middle East, according to prosecutors.
Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this is a “significant moment” for European security amid the continued fallout between the Ukrainian leader and Donald Trump.
In a phone call this morning, the prime minister reiterated the UK’s “ironclad support” for Ukraine and said he would discuss safeguarding Kyiv’s sovereignty with the US president.
Sir Keir also spoke with the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen this morning, in which they agreed that Europe must “step up” for the good of collective security on the continent.
Starmer and Zelenskyy last month. Pic: Reuters
Sir Keir will meet Mr Trump in the coming days for what will be a critical moment in the fragile relations between America and Europe after the US leader launched an extraordinary verbal attack on Mr Zelenskyy.
Mr Trump labelled the Ukrainian leader a “dictator” and said the prime minister and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom will visit the White House next week, “haven’t done anything” to end the war.
Since Russia‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK, France and other allies have been providing Kyiv with weapons and aid.
Mr Trump has also suggested that Ukraine “started” the war.
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Starmer and Macron ‘haven’t done anything’
In a Downing Street readout of Sir Keir’s call with Mr Zelenskyy, a spokesperson said: “The prime minister began by reiterating the UK’s ironclad support for Ukraine and commitment to securing a just and enduring peace to bring an end to Russia’s illegal war.
“The leaders reflected on recent developments in the conflict, as the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion approaches, and agreed on the need to continue working together with allies to achieve peace through strength.
“They agreed that this was a significant moment for the future of Ukraine and European security at large.”
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The spokesperson added: “The prime minister repeated that Ukraine must be at the heart of any negotiations to end the war and that safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty was essential to deter future aggression from Russia.”
Meanwhile, a Downing Street spokesperson said of Sir Keir and Ms von der Leyen’s call: “Ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia’s barbaric illegal war, they discussed the need to secure a just and enduring peace in Ukraine, and agreed that Europe must step up for the good of collective European security.”
On Saturday afternoon, Sir Keir also spoke with Finland’s president Alexander Stubb and discussed “the need to secure enduring peace for Ukraine and bring an end to Russia’s illegal war”, a Downing Street readout said.
“The leaders agreed the need for Europe to step up support to achieve this, and the prime minister said the UK is ready to play a role in future security guarantees.”
The US president’s recent statements, which echo Russian president Vladimir Putin’s narrative, and plans to have direct negotiations with Moscow about the end of the war in Ukraine have left European allies and Ukrainian officials worried.
Mr Trump told US governors on Friday he “had very good talks with Putin” and “not such good talks with Ukraine”.
The US president also said a deal on minerals in Ukraine in exchange for weapons was close, but a source with knowledge of the negotiations told Sky News the Ukrainian president is not ready to sign and sees a “number of problematic issues” with the draft agreement.
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