Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is to travel to Russia for high-level talks in the coming weeks, it has been announced.
T
he Foreign Office said Mr Johnson had accepted an invitation from Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to visit Moscow.
A spokeswoman added: The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have made clear that our policy towards Russia is to engage but beware and the visit is entirely consistent with this approach.
Discussions will focus on the UK-Russia relationship and current international issues including Syria and Ukraine, where we continue to have significant differences.
The spokeswoman said it was not a return to business as usual and the Foreign Secretary will continue to be robust on those issues where we differ.
But the UK would engage with Russia where it is in our national interest to do so.
It is understood that Mr Johnson will become the first UK minister to visit Russia since 2011.
Relations between Britain and Russia have since cooled, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its intervention in Syria.