LONDON (Sputnik) — On Saturday, a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office announced that UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson planned to come to Moscow for high-level talks in the coming weeks to discuss the UK-Russia relationship and urgent global issues, such as crises in Syria and Ukraine.
"On ISIL [Daesh], we need to co-ordinate with Russia to defeat a shared enemy in Syria and Iraq, and return stolen territory to their governments," Blunt said in a statement.
Britain is part of the so-called US-led coalition that has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh in Syria and Iraq since 2014. The strikes in Iraq are conducted in support of the Iraqi government, but those in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.
Moscow has been conducting a counter-terrorist campaign in Syria since September 30, 2015, at President Bashar Assad's request.
On Thursday, UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee issued a report recommending UK authorities to establish a constructive dialogue with Russia. Namely, it warned of the dangers of non-engagement with Moscow amid the current standoff over the crisis in Ukraine and Syria, as well as urged the government to clarify its post-Brexit stance on EU anti-Russian sanctions as well as to appoint a junior Foreign Office minister to oversee relations with Russia and its regional neighbors.
