Arsene Wenger is hopeful that current diplomatic tensions between Russia and the United Kingdom will not impact Arsenal's Europa League meeting with CSKA Moscow.
CSKA visit the Emirates Stadium on Thursday before the second leg of their quarter-final takes place in the Russian capital a week later.
The tie comes against the backdrop of heightened diplomatic tensions between the British government and the Kremlin over the poisoning of Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a nerve agent in Salisbury last month.
Diplomats have been expelled from both countries, while there have been calls for England to boycott this summer's World Cup in Russia.