Vladimir Kolokoltsev
Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev chastised his Swedish counterpart Mikael Damberg. This is reported by Svenska Dagbladet, citing a source.
The incident occurred during a meeting at a road safety conference in February 2020 in Stockholm. The Russian side spoke about the successful negotiations, the Swedes chose not to advertise the conversation between Kolokoltsev and Damberg. At the request of the publication, documents related to the meeting were examined for secrecy and partly provided to the newspaper.
During the talks, the head of the Swedish department spoke about the country's problems with organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorism. Kolokoltsov responded by calling on him to cooperate on the issue of combating threats.
After that, Damberg criticized Moscow for the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. However, the Russian minister rejected the claims and said that “the modern world is fragile.” He pointed out to his colleague that “you cannot get hung up on the Battle of Poltava,” and urged to move on and continue the dialogue between Moscow and Stockholm.
“Kolokoltsev is a professional who is responsible for the internal security of Russia. It looks like he scolded Damberg and demanded that he stop his criticism, ”the source said. He also accused the Swedish minister of unprofessionalism, as he spoke “about everything.”
Relations between Kiev and Moscow deteriorated sharply after the reunification of Crimea with Russia in March 2014 and the outbreak of conflict in Donbass in April of the same year. Part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence. Kiev tried to return them by force, but to no avail. Ukraine accuses Russia of armed aggression and occupation of Crimea and regions of Donbass. The Kremlin rejects the claim.
