UK Foreign Secretary Johnson Visits Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Moscow

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall in Moscow's Alexander Garden and laid flowers at the site of the murder of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov during Friday's visit to Moscow.

"Honoured to pay my respects at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin Wall, Moscow, recognising Russia's military sacrifice in the Second World War," Johnson wrote on Twitter.

Honoured to pay my respects at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin Wall, Moscow, recognising Russia's military sacrifice in the Second World War pic.twitter.com/iX6p1gB852

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 22 декабря 2017 г.

He also attached a picture of him laying flowers on the site of Nemtsov's murder on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge across the Moskva River close to the Kremlin, saying that "justice must be served."

Nemtsov was shot dead in downtown Moscow in 2015 while walking together with a friend. Nemtsov occupied a number of senior positions in the Russian government in the 1990s and was an active opposition figure in the 2000s.

Visited Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge to lay flowers at the scene of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov's murder. Justice must be served. pic.twitter.com/FBQjxJ5UiR

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 22 декабря 2017 г.

Johnson came to Moscow for a one-day visit earlier in the day and held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The ministers discussed a wide range of issues, including bilateral ties and pressing problems that undermine cooperation between the two states.

Johnson's visit to Moscow is the first one during his tenure and the first visit of an UK foreign secretary to Russia in more than five and a half years. However, the diplomat has not met Russian President Vladimir Putin and the main events of the visit were held at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Frank talks w/ Russian foreign minister Lavrov in Moscow. We recognised many significant differences but agreed shared interests & global duties require dialogue. Talks covered UN security council priorities inc Iran/Syria/DPRK & bilateral relations pic.twitter.com/LkVRBwiaBa

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 22 декабря 2017 г.

The relations between Moscow and London have been quite tense over the past several years due to existing disagreements on a number of issues, in particular, on the situation in eastern Ukraine as well as in Syria. These disagreements were accompanied by unfriendly statements by senior UK politicians about Russia, and the bilateral political dialogue was completely disrupted.