Boris forced to CANCEL phonecall with Putin amid partygate upheaval before Liz Truss catches Covid
Boris jets into Ukraine TODAY for last-ditch diplomatic bid to head off war with Russia – but without Foreign Secretary Liz Truss who is battling Covid and after being forced to CANCEL phonecall with Putin amid partygate chaos
Boris Johnson was due to have a call with Vladimir Putin on Monday afternoon But it is understood to have slipped to Tuesday after Moscow reportedly rejected a request for a brief delay Liz Truss said she has tested positive for Covid, hours after she sat near to PM The Foreign Secretary was supposed to travel to Kyiv with PM on Tuesday
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Boris Johnson was yesterday forced to postpone a call to Vladimir Putin so he could deal with Partygate as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss pulled out of a visit to Ukraine after catching Covid.
The call between the Prime Minister and the Russian president was due to take place yesterday afternoon but is understood to have slipped to today after Moscow reportedly rejected a request for a brief delay.
Asked if it was because of the timing of Sue Gray’s report on Partygate, Mr Johnson’s spokesman said there had not been a ‘settled time’ for the call.
But he added: ‘It’s not unusual for timings with world leaders to change and you will appreciate the control of the timing for the receipt of this report rightly [was] with Sue Gray and her team, and the Prime Minister had committed to come to the House to make an update.’
Downing Street said officials were ‘looking to finalise the time’ for Mr Johnson to hold the call with Mr Putin.
It comes after Ms Truss said she had tested positive for coronavirus last night.
Boris Johnson was yesterday forced to postpone a call to Vladimir Putin so he could deal with Partygate
The call between the Prime Minister and the Russian president was due to take place yesterday afternoon but is understood to have slipped to today after Moscow reportedly rejected a request for a brief delay
She had been due to fly to Kyiv with the Prime Minister today in a show of support as tensions with Russia continue.
It comes after she sat on a crowded front bench in the Commons, without a mask on, two seats away from the Prime Minister while he gave a statement on Partygate.
She then gave a statement on Ukraine, flanked by departmental colleagues, and later attended a packed meeting of Tory MPs being addressed by Mr Johnson without wearing a mask.
She tweeted afterwards: ‘I tested positive for Covid this evening. Thankfully I’ve had my three jabs and will be working from home while I isolate.’
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has tested positive for coronavirus, hours after she was sat inches away from Boris Johnson in the Commons
Foreign secretary Liz Truss (centre) leaves the House of Commons, London, on Monday night
The minister was set to travel to Kyiv, Ukraine , with the Prime Minister on Tuesday in a show of support for the country. But those plans will have to change after Ms Truss tweeted that she has Covid
The Prime Minister earlier said he would warn Mr Putin to ‘step back from the brink’ of an invasion of Ukraine, which would be an ‘absolute disaster’.
Mr Johnson is expected to visit Ukraine today for a meeting with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as tens of thousands of Russian troops maintain their position close to the Ukrainian border. It was hoped a call would go ahead before the meeting.
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the reports of the delayed phone call showed there were ‘real world consequences’ of having a Prime Minister fighting for his political survival and ‘a vital diplomatic opportunity has been missed’.
Instead of speaking to Mr Johnson on Monday night, Putin spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron. During the exchange, the pair agreed to maintain a dialogue on implementing the Minsk agreements regarding Donbass, a region of eastern Ukraine where Moscow has backed separatist fighters.
Fears of an imminent Russian incursion in Ukraine have grown in recent days, despite denials from Moscow and pleas from Zelensky to avoid stirring ‘panic’ over the military build-up on the border.
A Ukrainian serviceman adjusts the strap of his weapon in a trench at a frontline position in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine on Monday, Jan. 31
Earlier, Ms Truss announced plans for legislation with new powers to sanction individuals and businesses linked to the Russian state ahead of the visit.
She told MPs legislation would allow the UK ‘to target any company that is linked to the Russian state, engages in business of economic significance to the Russian state or operates in a sector of strategic significance to the Russian state’.
She added: ‘Those in and around the Kremlin will have nowhere to hide.’
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss making a statement on Russia and Ukraine, in the House of Commons in London on January 31
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the sanctions were ‘direct threats to attack business’ and Russia could take ‘retaliatory measures’.
The US also said it has prepared a list of Russian elites to hit with sanctions if Moscow sends troops into Ukraine.
New splits in Nato over Ukraine emerged last night after Hungary told Defence Secretary Ben Wallace it will not host thousands of Western troops.
The timing of the snub is significant as Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban is expected to meet Mr Putin at the Kremlin today.
Asked if more Nato troops could be sent to Hungary, defence minister Tibor Benko said: ‘We do not require assistance… We have the capabilities to deal with the situation.’
It came as the UN Security Council held a tense meeting over the build-up of 127,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders. The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said threats to Ukraine ‘also threaten Europe’.
