UK Defense Committee Hopes for Better UK-Russia Dialogue Despite Sanctions

The UK parliament's Defense Committee hopes to formulate a better environment for the UK-Russia dialogue and to work on improving relations between the countries despite the recent calls to expand anti-Russia sanctions, UK Parliamentary Defense Committee spokesperson Alex Paterson told Sputnik Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, the UK parliament's Defense Committee issued a new report, in which it called for the renewal of EU anti-Russian sanctions as well as for introducing individual sanctions against a larger number of Russian officials.

“The sanctions should act as an incentive for the Minsk Agreements [on Ukrainian reconciliation] to be fulfilled, and we hope to be able to formulate a future environment in which UK-Russia dialogue is enhanced, and to work to improve relations between the two nations,” Alex Paterson said.

“The report strongly advocates this, and the Committee hopes for better dialogue and understanding between the UK and Russia in future,” Paterson added.