British foreign minister to visit Russia to discuss differences

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson speaks during a news briefing after a meeting with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski in Kiev, Ukraine, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's foreign secretary Boris Johnson will go to Moscow in the coming weeks to discuss the differences between the two countries over Syria and Ukraine, the Foreign Office said on Saturday, in the first such visit for five years.

Britain backed sanctions against Russia in response to its annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the countries have clashed on other issues, including Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war in his country.