UK envoy arrives in Moscow in bid to ease tensions

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Liz Truss arrived in Moscow Wednesday in a bid to ease tensions between Russia and Ukraine amid Russia’s military buildup on the countries’ shared border.

Truss is one of multiple top officials that has visited Russia and urged the country to choose diplomacy to deescalate the situation, or face sanctions, The Associated Press reported.

“Russia has a choice here. We strongly encourage them to engage, de-escalate and choose the path of diplomacy,” Truss said, according to the wire service. 

“Russia should be in no doubt about the strength of our response,” Truss added. 

Truss’s visit to Moscow is the first by the U.K. foreign secretary in more than four years, according to the AP.

The visit comes after French President Emmanuel Macron had an hours-long meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying Putin told the French leader he “won’t be initiating an escalation” and the “objective is met” to avoid a crisis. 

Russia still has more than 100,000 troops at Ukraine’s border, and Russia has demanded that NATO deny its former Soviet neighbor entry into the alliance. Russia has also demanded that Western countries pull weapons out of eastern Europe. 

Western countries have rejected Russia’s demands and said severe economic sanctions would be placed on the nation if it invaded Ukraine. 

President Biden and Vice President Harris have previously stated that should Russia invade Ukraine, the U.S. would impose severe economic sanctions on Russia.