Vladimir Putin’s rule will end if Russia invades Ukraine, Ben Wallace warns

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Gen Shoigu and the heads of the Russian SVR and FSB intelligence services are thought to be the only people able to influence Vladimir Putin over the practical implications of military action in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and General Gerasimov, the head of Russia’s armed forces, are considered more deliverers than influencers.

With the intelligence chiefs not involved in this visit, Britain’s Defense Secretary was keen to build a constructive relationship with Gen Shoigu to ensure western resolve over Ukraine was properly understood by the Kremlin.

Gen Shoigu said there was a “unique opportunity after a long pause to resume our dialogue face to face…and to exchange our opinions on topical issues,” but warned the current level of cooperation between Russia and the West “is almost zero” .

However, evoking the memory of the shared fight against nazism in the Second World War, Mr Shoigu said he wanted to talk “without increasing the temperature with Nato and the United Kingdom given our historic…and common brotherhood.

“I would like to have an understanding of [the] risks and threats facing us and you as well,” he said.

Shortly after landing at Moscow’s Pnukovo airport, Mr. Wallace had laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin, alongside Lieutenant General Yevgeniy Seleznyov, the Commandant of Moscow.

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