The Russian Embassy’s Submission On The State Of The Russo-British Relashionship (Brief résumé)
- Our bilateral relationship is held, in fact, hostage to the vicissitudes of Ukrainian domestic politics. Besides, the way HMG decided to dispose of the ‘Litvinenko case’ puts even the limited progress of the past 6 months at risk.
- The British Side froze all the mechanisms of our bilateral political dialogue and Inter-Governmental Cooperation in March 2014 in response to our differences over the Ukrainian crisis. - The methods of integration of Ukraine with the EU (lack of transparency and open debate, including on the consequences of the DCFTA, unwillingness to coordinate with Russia) led to destabilisation of Ukraine and a unilateral response to a unilateral action. ‘Expansionism on the cheap’. Fatal link with Nato membership. - Outside the ‘Normandy Four’ and with no stake in the political solution, Britain became the most vociferous critic of Russia and supporter of Kiev’s flawed strategy of military solution. - Our differences over the problems of the Middle East and North Africa are due, in our view, to Britain’s trust in reordering the region through regime change (Iraq, Egypt, Libya and Syria) and encouragement of ‘democratic revolutions’, rather than evolution and developmental transformation of those societies. - The trade and economic ties are in decline partly due to the Western sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and the overall climate of the political relationship. - The trade and cooperation in agriculture wiped out by Russia’s retaliatory measures. - The cultural ties are a bright page, as always, in bad times, key to maintaining people-to-people contacts and mutual trust between the Russians and the British. - Suspension of the Coroner’s inquest and the decision in July 2015 to hold a semi-secret public inquiry instead was a strategic blunder. The case can only be closed through an open court of law and due process with all the evidence subject to adversary scrutiny. The January report a ‘whitewash’ of the British special services unwilling to come clean on their work against Russia ever since we fell out over the War in Iraq. - The way visas are issued to personel of our official missions in Britain is a major irritant in our relationship, especially against the background of the bilateral agenda dominated by minor technical issues. Toughening of the respective British practice in late 2015 in contravention of Britain’s international obligations. Huge potential for further deterioration. - The bigger picture, i.e. the state of the Russia – the West relations, dominated by the decisions made by the West immediately after the end of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union. The ‘victory in the Cold War’ euphoria and ‘end of history’ mentality led to expansion of Nato towards Russia’s border. The lack of formal settlement after the Cold War end prevented establishment of a genuine region-wide system of collective security ensuring its indivisibility in the Euro-Atlantic. - Now all of us paying the price. Restoration of Europe’s political unity key to our competitiveness in the radically transformed global environment. History forgotten and Russia’s domestic development distorted by the Western policies.
Steve Rosenberg, BBC News: Mr President, ‘a new Cold War’ is an expression that one can hear more and more often when it comes to Russia-West relations. And we hear Russia regularly blame external forces for these tensions. It may be America, or Britain, or Nato. But after having been at the helm of power for 20 years, don’t you believe that you are at least partly responsible for the deplorable state of those relations, especially if one recalls Russia’s actions over the recent years, from annexing Crimea to using a chemical weapon on British soil, in Salisbury? Or are you not? Are Russian authorities ‘white and fluffy’? And when it comes to chemical weapons – have you read the Bellingcat report that sets out in detail that the attack on Alexey Navalny was orchestrated by the Russian State? Thank you.
Ambassador Andrei Kelin welcomed the participants of the Westminster Russia Forum. This year the event was held online due to coronavirus restrictions. His Excellency noted that for many years the forum has been an independent platform uniting everyone, no matter what their political views are, who would like to build up Russia-UK ties.
During the recent visit of Ukrainian President Zelensky to London the UK Government did not spare words to reiterate its full support for Ukrainian reforms and territorial integrity. New calls were made for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, the premise being that it is Russia and “Russia-backed separatists” who hamper the political process. Yet the reality is quite the opposite. We believe it is important to set the record straight: the Minsk Agreements and political engagements based on them are being persistently and deliberately ignored by Ukraine itself (with the connivance and, often, encouragement of its Western backers).
Referring to the subject of the BBC Series – White Helmets and James Le Mesurier – the Russian position is well-founded. Vast amounts of evidence on the ground as well as intelligence information which Russia has at its disposal unequivocally point to direct links between the White Helmets and terrorist organisations operating in Syria.
The suggestion that the Russian State may conduct any kind of propaganda against the AstraZeneca vaccine is itself an example of disinformation. It is obviously aimed at discrediting Russia’s efforts in combating the pandemic, including the good cooperation we have established with the UK in this field.
On 5 October 2020 Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin held an online meeting with members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia. Members of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, representing all major political parties of the country, took part in the conversation.
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) released the following statement today: The Co-Chairs strongly condemn the continued violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone as well as against targets in the territory of Armenia and Azerbaijan away from the Line of Contact, and express our alarm at reports of increasing civilian casualties. Targeting or threatening civilians is never acceptable under any circumstances. The Co-Chairs call on the sides to observe fully their international obligations to protect civilian populations.
We noted the EU’s October 2 decision to adopt new restrictive measures as regards Belarus. A comment declaring response measures has already been released by Belarusian officials. We see that instead of displaying restraint, which is so vital for stabilisation in Belarus, the European Union has once again resorted to the instrument of sanctions. This approach is unilateral and illegal. It undermines the prerogatives of the UN Security Council and leads to the further erosion of international law.
There is growing concern regarding the professional credentials of Permanent Representative of the United States to the Conference on Disarmament Robert Wood. On October 1, 2020, during a briefing hosted by the Foreign Press Association at the United Nations Office in Geneva he said that he did not know what Russia’s initiatives to prevent an arms race in outer space were about. As a reminder, for 40 years Russia (and earlier the USSR) has consistently advocated the drafting of a multilateral legally binding instrument that would prohibit the deployment of weapons of any kind, as well as the use or threat of force in outer space.
On 26 September 2020 Third Secretary of the Embassy Vadim Retyunskiy presented the Ushakov medal to the Arctic Convoys veteran Mr William Geoffrey ROBINSON who was awarded this military honour by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation for his personal courage and bravery displayed in WWII.
Tweet Follow @russianembassy