Boris Johnson has hinted at a thaw in relations with Russia after his first phone call with Vladimir Putin in a year and a half, The Times reports.
The prime minister is understood to want to “regularise contact” with Moscow despite concerns about issues including the annexation of Crimea and the Salisbury poisonings of 2018.
The two leaders spoke about their shared priorities in a phone call yesterday before the Cop26 conference. Putin will not attend the gathering of world leaders next week.
He has long been dismissive of the threat of climate change, but blamed his decision not to travel to Glasgow on the coronavirus situation in Russia, where record infection rates have resulted in a strict lockdown.
