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Russia ready to work with any politician succeeding Theresa May, says envoy

Earlier on Friday, Theresa May declared she had made up her mind to step down as the leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party on June 7

LONDON, May 24. /TASS/. Russia is ready to work with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, as well as any politician chosen to succeed her, Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko stated on Friday, commenting on May’s decision to step down from her post as prime minister, the Russian Embassy in the UK informed TASS.

"Firstly, I would like to mention that the announced exit of the prime minister and the appointment of her successor is an internal affair of Great Britain. Despite the fact that May herself has made a personal contribution to the current degradation of Russian-UK relations, Russia is ready to continue working both with the current head of the Cabinet until her exit and with any politician that will assume their duties as head of government as a result of the procedures recognized here," the diplomat said.

The UK finds itself "in a complicated and unprecedented situation", Yakovenko said. "Naturally, the embassy, along with the diplomatic missions of other countries, is monitoring the situation closely. The inability of the government and the parliament to make a decision on the conditions of Brexit prolongs a sense of uncertainty, which, from what we can tell, has a negative effect on economic activity," he continued.

"This concerns the Russian-UK economic relations," Yakovenko noted. "Although the cooperation between systemically important corporations continues and is not under significant threat, we are experiencing difficulties with establishing new trade and investment relations, especially between medium and small businesses, due to a lack of clarity on the issue of UK’s post-Brexit trade relations with the outside world."

Earlier on Friday, Theresa May declared she had made up her mind to step down as the leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party on June 7. She vowed to perform the prime minister’s duties until a new Tory leader was elected. The process of electing a new leader of the Conservative Party will begin on June 10. May has notified Queen Elizabeth II of her plans.

According to the British media’s estimates, the election of a new Tory leader may last six weeks.

The main reason that prompted May to take such a decision was her failure to persuade the UK parliament give the go-ahead to the Brexit terms agreement with the European Union. May encountered firm resistance from her own Cabinet of Ministers to the latest Brexit-related proposals, put forward in a bid to secure the MPs’ consent.