No hope for positive shift in ties with Britain under PM Sunak: Kremlin

Russia said on Tuesday it sees no reason to expect relations with Britain to improve under new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“At the moment we see no grounds for hope that there will be any positive changes in the foreseeable future,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

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“Russia remains open and ready to discuss the most difficult issues at the negotiating table. But not to the detriment of our own interests,” Peskov said.

Sunak became Britain's youngest prime minister in two centuries upon taking over from the ousted Liz Truss on Tuesday.

Britain has been one of the West’s most vocal backers of Kyiv and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24. Sunak is the third British prime minister during that period.

Russian officials have taken glee in the departures of both Truss and Boris Johnson and repeatedly said they see no chance of an improvement in relations between London and Moscow, no matter who occupies No. 10 Downing Street.

Read more: Sunak faces most daunting economic, political task as he becomes UK prime minister