The Russian ambassador to the UK has claimed Britain is not going to change its approach to Moscow even if its counterparts in the US do.
Unlike the rest of Kyiv’s western allies, US president Donald Trump has been pushing for a peace deal to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin is yet to meet with the American since he returned to the White House.
The Russian president has announced he is ready to talk though, and has echoed Trump’s claims that the war could have been avoided if he had been in the White House during Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Some pundits see this as a form of manipulation from the Russian president to get the US – currently the most powerful provider of military aid to Ukraine – to agree to more favourable terms in any future ceasefire agreement.
But it seems Moscow is not looking to take the same approach with Downing Street.
Russia’s UK ambassador Andrey Kelin said on Monday that Britain’s “anti-Russia policies are deep-rooted”.
He added: “It seems that purely hypothetical constructive signals from Washington wouldn’t be defining for London.”
Speaking to Russian state news agency TASS, Kelin pointed to the 2018 Salisbury poisonings, which the UK has concluded Putin was personally responsible for.
He said: “Let us remember that the provocation in Salisbury in 2018 and the subsequent whipping up of anti-Russian hysteria that went beyond the borders of Britain took place here during the first presidency of Donald Trump.”
Kelin claimed: “The UK’s anti-Russian policies are deep-rooted, long-standing and consensus-based for the elites, even though they cause damage to the local population and economy.”
The UK currently has a long list of sanctions out against Russia for its war against Ukraine.
Kelin continued: “The current Labour government has already committed itself to this agenda with numerous unfriendly, often frankly offensive actions and statements over the past six months.”
PM Keir Starmer used his first major speech at the United Nations in New York to accuse Putin of “meat-grinder” tactics on the frontline.
He recently announced an historic 100-year partnership with Kyiv too, revealing how they would work across defence and non-military areas.
Kelin also suggested Starmer’s trip to Kyiv earlier this month was on a “propaganda” trip to Kyiv meant to disrupt a peace settlement – while claiming the “unbreakable bond between Britain and Ukraine can hardly be taken seriously”.
But former UK governments have not minced their words when slamming the Kremlin either, with Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Theresa May all hitting out at Putin during their time in office.
And, even though Russia has been engaged in a major land grab in Europe for almost three years now, Kelin somehow accused the UK of being driven “by the idea of enslaving Ukraine”.
Kelin did then invite UK ministers “to admit the fallacy of their approaches, then at least to show pragmatism for the sake of their country’s interests”.
“We, for our part, have never refused to restore the ties undermined by London, if we are talking about a sincere desire to enter into a dialogue on a basis of mutual respect and taking into account our legitimate interests,” he claimed.
That seems pretty unlikely though. Starmer vowed not to “let up on Ukraine” during his first visit to the beleaguered country as PM earlier this month.