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Russia-UK relations may improve following Theresa May’s resignation, expert says

Int'l Valdai Discussion Club Council chairman Andrei Bystritsky said May " has a complicated history of her own relations with Russia"

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Russia’s relations with the United Kingdom may improve following UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s resignation, Andrei Bystritsky, International Valdai Discussion Club Council chairman, told TASS on Friday.

"May’s resignation may help improve relations with Russia. She has a complicated history of her own relations with Russia: she was Home Secretary when the Litvinenko case (former Russian Federal Security Service officer Alexander Litvinenko was granted asylum in the United Kingdom and died from radiation poisoning in London on November 23, 2006 - TASS) was probed into. She had a lot of criticism from Russia back then," he said. "Probably, a new person will be able to find some ways to improve relations with Moscow, with more leeway given."

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British PM May to resign on June 7

According to the expert, May’s resignation as prime minister is an attempt to ease tensions among British politicians over the Brexit problem. "As for Brexit, mature people, politicians should not behave in a way we them behaving now. They are behaving as though they are unable to make a decision. May tried to find a compromise but failed. She has been bitten for her attempts to find a balance with [the opposition Labor Party’s leader Jeremy] Corbyn," Bystritsky said, adding that May should not be blamed for the crisis around Brexit.

In the current situation, he noted, neither another referendum on the UK’s membership in the European Union nor early parliamentary elections could be ruled out.

More to it, in his words, May’s resignation may be beneficial for the United States "as she had personal problems in relations with the American leadership."

Theresa May on Friday declared she had made a decision to quit as the leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party on June 7, but vowed to perform the prime minister’s duties until a new Tory leader was elected. She also said that the Conservatives would begin a campaign to elect their new leader on June 10. One of the reasons why May took such a decision was her failure to persuade parliament to approve the agreement on the terms of Brexit with the European Union. The prime minister encountered firm resistance from her own Cabinet of Ministers to her latest Brexit proposals made with the aim to secure parliament’s consent to the deal.

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