Russian hostility as bad ‘as the Cold War’, says Boris Johnson

0 Boris Johnson has described the falling out between Russian and the West as a ‘tragedy’ Boris Johnson has claimed Russia’s hostility towards the UK and the rest of the western world is as bad now as the end of the Cold War.

As he prepares to meet his counterpart in Moscow, the Foreign Secretary accused Russia of destabilising the West through invasions, killings and attempts to interfere in western elections.

Mr Johnson described the falling out as a “tragedy”.

He said his hopes at the end of the Cold War that relations might improve now seemed like a “total illusion”.

“Russia has not been so hostile to the UK or to western interests since the end of the Cold War,” Mr Johnson told the Sunday Times.

“In the Crimea, (it was) capturing a part of sovereign European territory from someone else’s country and holding it for the first time since 1945. Add their destabilising activities in the western Balkans.

“We literally have Russian fingerprints on an assassination attempt in Montenegro. Look at what they’re doing with cyber-warfare, with attempted disruption of democratic processes in the UK.”

Although Mr Johnson said he had seen “no evidence” that Russian interference had affected the outcome of the European Union referendum, he said he had witnessed evidence of Russian “trolling on Facebook”.

It is not the first time Mr Johnson has spoken out against Russia.

He previously accused the nation of behaving “as though there is indeed a new Cold War” during a speech in the House of Commons.

Mr Johnson has also attacked Russia for shutting down investigations into chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The Foreign Secretary will visit Russia on Thursday to hold talks with his opposite number Sergey Lavrov.

Despite the strained relationship, Mr Johnson has vowed to find a way to engage with the nation, adding Britain needed to “collaborate” with Russia in order to defeat Islamist terrorism. He said he would be “pushing very hard to understand” how the Russians view “the end game” in Syria.

Mr Johnson, who first announced his planned Moscow visit in October, said differences between the countries made it all the more important for the nations to talk to one another for the sake of national and international security.