Boris Johnson is scheduled to come to Scotland next week - but it not set to meet Douglas Ross during his visit.
The Prime Minister is set to visit Scotland on Monday, although this could be subject to change due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine.
The Conservative leader is not going to be joined by his Scottish counterpart during the trip, reports say, after clashes between senior UK Government and Scots Tory figures.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former Leader of the House and now Minister for Brexit Opportunities – with a continued Cabinet presence – caused a major row after describing Mr Ross as a "lightweight" political figure.
It came after Mr Ross made a public call for Mr Johnson to resign amid the partygate scandal.
Mr Ross and his Tory MSPs have not rowed back on their calls for Mr Johnson to resign, although none of his five MPs have publicly demanded the Prime Minister’s resignation.
Despite the tensions between the two sides of the party, Mr Johnson’s inner circle insist that “there is no way he is allowing an important part of the United Kingdom to become a no-go area for him” – hence the decision to travel north of the Border in the coming days.
Senior Scottish Tories sought to downplay the significance of Johnson not meeting with Ross during the visit, with one source telling The Times: “When the Prime Minister has come to Scotland before there have been times when Douglas has been there and there have been times where Douglas hasn’t been there.”
They went on: “He is still the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and we are still the Conservative Party. There is still that fundamental difference but as far as we’re concerned there’s no attempt to push him away.”
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