London, Moscow need new backchannel to prevent ‘miscalculation,’ says UK defense chief

Britain’s defense secretary has called for new channels of communication between the UK and Russia, particularly at the military-to-military level, to lower the “risk of miscalculation.” “There is always a risk of miscalculation and that’s why having that direct communication is important,” Wes Streeting said in an interview with British daily Financial Times published Tuesday. While saying that the UK’s embassy in Moscow is an “important channel,” the defense secretary noted that he would much prefer there to be “additional channels too, particularly military-to-military level.”

The British daily also reported that London had tried to restore backchannels with senior defense officials in Moscow but had so far been rebuffed. “Right now, it feels that miscalculation is a greater risk than a deliberate move to escalate,” said one government official. Streeting’s comments came as a new round of US-mediated trilateral peace talks between Russia and Ukraine was held Tuesday in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Tuesday’s trilateral negotiations between the US, Russia and Ukraine as “very productive,” saying that diplomatic efforts were aimed at establishing durable security arrangements.

Ahead of the trilateral meeting, representatives of the US, Ukraine and European partners also held discussions and agreed to broader multilateral talks on ending the war.