LONDON, August 21. /TASS/. Intimidating people with the so-called Russian threat, the UK government only compromises its own international authority and strips itself of a possibility for constructive dialogue with Moscow, the Russian embassy in the United Kingdom said on Tuesday, commenting on UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s speech at the US Institute for Peace.
"The UK authorities may prefer to continue their policy of scaremongering, using the so-called "Russian threat" in order to distract the British public from those urgent domestic and international problems the UK currently faces. But this "enemy search" is a flawed and shortsighted policy," the embassy said. "Its clear result is further undermining of the international authority of the country, who willfully closes channels for communication and thus loses opportunities for efficient cooperation with a wide range of states. This is done against the background of the declared "Global Britain" policy, aimed to demonstrate the British openness to the world."
According to the embassy, Hunt’s anti-Russian rhetoric fits well into the general line of the current Conservative government towards Russia. "It is highly symbolic that Foreign Secretary Hunt has chosen the US Institute for Peace as a venue for his attacks. There is not much about peace," it noted.
Speaking in Washington ahead of his meeting with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and other high-ranking US officials, Hunt called on the European Union to strictly obey by the comprehensive package of anti-Russian sanctions, claiming that Russia’s "aggressive and malign behavior undermines the international order."
"We consider any tightening of sanctions to be illegitimate, dictated by a strive for global domination by means of protectionism and unfair competition," the Russian embassy stressed. "Today restrictive measures are aimed not only at Russia and a whole range of other countries. Allies are being as easily punished, in this regard the UK is not an exception. This kind of policy cannot become a basis for international communication. It cannot serve as a foundation for a long-term course - sanctions mechanisms have their objective limitations due to the limited potential of the countries using them.".