LONDON, June 9. /TASS/. The United Kingdom made a claim for a new position in the world after withdrawing from the European Union but it’s hard to say if London’s abilities will match its aspirations, Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin said in an interview with TASS on Wednesday.
"After the United Kingdom left the European Union, claims were made for a new positioning, the United Kingdom seeks to create new partnerships everywhere, primarily in the East," the envoy pointed out, commenting on the Global Britain concept aimed at demonstrating the country’s new global role after Brexit.
"I see two aspects to the matter. First, it is a claim for global leadership in various fields and it’s not clear if the British wish to move towards this goal will match the country’s abilities," Kelin said. "The UK particularly has a strong wish to create a new partnership with India and a new partnership in East Asia. However, as far as abilities go, they are very limited at the moment, the country has a huge domestic debt and its external economic capabilities are weak," the diplomat said, pointing to London’s recent move to reduce aid to developing countries. "Second, it would be important to make sure that efforts to create such partnerships go in a positive way, boosting relations for the benefit of those countries’ people. But in reality, things are unfolding in a different manner," Kelin noted.
In particular, he emphasized that the United Kingdom sought to establish partnerships against China in the Pacific region. "This is not the development that is expected from the British. After the pandemic, everyone is looking forward to joint efforts and not divisive trends," the Russian ambassador concluded.