British government spending in Russia during the run-up to the invasion of Ukraine included a group staying at a hotel once used by Edward Snowden (Picture: Google/Reuters)

British officials continued to attempt ‘soft power’ in Russia as they hosted a wallpaper show and stayed in a five-star hotel in the days before the invasion of Ukraine.

The UK government spent thousands of pounds on activities that included a government group with then foreign secretary Liz Truss checking into the Baltschug Kempinski in Moscow. 

The £589.94 bill for February 8 is itemised as ‘hotel accommodation of Foreign Secretary group’ ahead of her meeting with Kremlin counterpart Sergey Lavrov, newly released data shows. 

The Imperial-era landmark offers ‘spectacular views of the Kremlin and St Basil’s Cathedral’, according to its website.

Lying by the Moskva river, the Kempinski has the distinction of being the first international five-star hotel in post-Soviet Russia.  

In 2014, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden gave a five-hour interview to the NBC News channel at the hotel and six years later Russian ‘sleeper’ spy Anna Chapman gave a photoshoot for Heat magazine in a room showing the Kremlin in the background.  

Other payments on the UK government’s procurement card show how officials continued with cultural and civic activities as Russia continued to mass its forces on Ukraine’s border.

The Kempinski Hotel in Moscow hosted a UK group with the then foreign secretary Liz Truss (Picture: Google)

A further amount of £1,569.61 was spent on February 2 for a legal forum reception in St Petersburg, which lies in western Russia on the Baltic Sea.

The bill was incurred at the five-star Lotte Hotel, which is set in a historic mansion in the heart of the city.    

Another purchase of £635.66 was made on the same day for an event at an ‘official residence’, with the payment being made to Ivanob IP in the ‘miscellaneous and general retail stores category’. Ivanov is the regular vendor for catering services at the British embassy in Moscow. No details have been disclosed about the type of event.

A day later £2,378.97 was spent on the ‘British Interior Design Showcase v20’ featuring a presentation by award-winning artist Sian Zeng.  

Edward Snowden’s spy story took in the Kempinski Hotel where he gave a rare interview (Picture: Reuters/Brendan McDermid/File Photo)

The event took place at the Deluxe Home Creation showroom in Moscow, according to the list of expenditure released by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) after a Freedom of Information Act request by Metro.co.uk.

The expense is itemised as ‘restaurants and bars’, with the vendor named as Silver Kejtering.

Zeng visited Moscow to present her signature wallpaper collection and talk about her designs fusing eastern and western styles. She gave two presentations at the showroom in Moscow on February 9, thanking the UK’s Department of International Trade in Russia on Twitter ahead of the event.  

Anglo-Russian relations unravelled in the run-up to the full-scale invasion, with Ms Truss being given short shrift by Mr Lavrov, Vladimir Putin’s most senior diplomat, during her visit.   

After private talks, he told a press conference: ‘I’m honestly disappointed that what we have is a conversation between a dumb and a deaf person.’ 

Liz Truss walks in Moscow’s Red Square during her time as foreign secretary (Picture: Simon Dawson/No10 Downing Street)

Last month, the Kremlin reacted to news of Ms Truss’s resignation as prime minister by saying she would be remembered for her ‘catastrophic illiteracy’. The comment by foreign minister Maria Zakharova is thought to be a reference to the former Tory leader’s two-day trip to Moscow.  

The invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 with a barrage of missile strikes and Russian troops attempting an ill-fated attempt to seize Kyiv.     

In October, Ms Truss’s phone was reported to have been hacked by Russian agents while she was foreign secretary.

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The breach was said to have taken place during the summer Conservative leadership campaign but to have been suppressed from public disclosure until afterwards.   

Agents suspected of working for Russia had been responsible for the alleged hacking, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The government has refused to comment on the exact case but has said it has ‘robust systems in place to protect against cyber threats’.  

It is understood that Ms Truss was not in the group that stayed at the Kempinski Hotel.

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The UK spent thousands of pounds on food and drink at events in Russia during the run-up to war.