Ukraine: Boris Johnson to call Vladimir Putin and visit region
Boris Johnson will telephone Russian President Vladimir Putin and visit Eastern Europe in the coming days as the UK steps up its diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine border crisis.
No 10 said the PM would repeat the need for Russia to "engage diplomatically" when he spoke to Mr Putin this week.
He would "reiterate the need for Russia to step back", No 10 added.
Mr Johnson has said the UK could deploy troops to protect NATO allies if Russia invaded Ukraine. However, Ukraine is not part of NATO and Russia wants the West to promise it will never join the military alliance, seeing it as a direct threat to its security.
As well as Mr Johnson's visit to the region, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will visit Moscow in the next two weeks, the Russian Embassy in the UK said.
Mr Johnson has asked military and security chiefs to give him more options to mitigate against what Downing Street has called "growing Russian aggression".
This weekend, the prime minister is considering those options - including the deployment of more British troops to NATO countries in the region.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60179127
Send more troops to help NATO allies?
I bet he wishes the Tories hadn't cut the infantry by almost 20% over the last few years.