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Russia-UK relations

In the historical retrospective, Russia-UK relations were never stable or predictable. In recent years, their political aspect has been characterised by inconsistency and volatility and abrupt changes from relatively good to overtly hostile. These variations are initiated by London, either providing for its “higher national interests” or playing along with Washington and hence beginning another cooldown in bilateral cooperation with Russia.

Today, the situation around Russia-British relations provokes disappointment and clearly does not correspond to the potential and importance of the two countries in the global arena.

After Crimea and Sevastopol joined the Russian Federation, London suspended key Russian-UK mechanisms such as 2+2 Strategic Dialogue with participation of Foreign and Defence Ministers, the Intergovernmental Steering Committee on Trade and Investment and the High Level Energy Dialogue.

The entire complex of military cooperation was also put on hold, including the work to sign an agreement on military-technical cooperation, and military high-level visits were cancelled, “except those that are clearly in the interests of the United Kingdom.” The United Kingdom has also suspended all licenses (and has stopped considering applications for licenses as well) to export military and dual-use goods to Russia, which are meant for the Russian army and other structures, and “which may be used against Ukraine.”

London has also announced that the EU’s decisions on sanctions against Russian officials and companies “will be directly relevant for the British authorities.”

On May 7, 2015, a regular general parliamentary election was held in the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party won the majority of votes and David Cameron, agreeably, started his second term as Prime Minister and formed a new one-party Government.

On June 23, 2016 the United Kingdom held a referendum about membership in the European Union, with 51.89% voting to leave the EU. In total, 33.5 million of 46.5 registered voters took part in the voting (a turnout of 72.15%). The majority in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar voted to stay a member, while in England and Wales most people were against staying in the EU. After the referendum, David Cameron announced that he was leaving his office as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party.

After the internal election procedure in the Conservative Partly, Theresa May assumed the leadership. She had been Home Secretary since 2010. On July 13, 2016, David Cameron officially transferred the leadership over to Theresa May, who became the Prime Minister.

On July 13, 2016, Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to Theresa May on being appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain. On August 9, 2016, Vladimir Putin had the first official telephone conversation with Theresa May at the initiative of the British side. On September 4, 2016, they met in person for the first time on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China.

On June 8, 2017, an early parliamentary election took place at Theresa May’s initiative. After this, the Conservative Party lost its majority in Parliament, but remained the governing party (with silent support of the Democratic Unionist Party). Theresa May continued as Prime Minister.

One of the few remaining channels for bilateral dialogue is consultations held by Aide to the President Yury Ushakov and UK National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister (now Mark Sedwill). The latest meeting in this format took place in Moscow on August 10, 2017.

On August 11, September 12, November 22, 2016 and March 27, 2017, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received telephone calls from UK Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson (who also maintained his position after the election on June 8, 2017). On September 20, 2016, they met in person for the first time on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly in New York.

After a gap of five years the first official visit of a UK Foreign Secretary should have taken place on April 10, 2017, to hold talks with Sergey Lavrov. However, on April 8, 2017, Boris Johnson announced that the trip had been cancelled due to “fundamentally changed circumstances” after the chemical attack in Idlib Province, Syria. Boris Johnson claimed that Assad’s government was responsible for this incident.

Between April 26–28, 2016, the delegation of the Defence Committee of the House of Commons visited Moscow to exchange opinions with members of the State Duma Defence Committee. The delegation was also received at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Between May 16–19, 2016, the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons led by its Chairman Crispin Blunt visited Moscow and St Petersburg. The MPs had meetings with Alexei Pushkov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Yevgeny Grigoryev, Chairman of the St Petersburg Committee on Foreign Relations, and a meeting in the Russian Foreign Ministry.

On January, 2016, Robert Owen’s report into the death of Alexander Litvinenko was published after the so-called “public inquiry”. It includes allegations of the leadership of Russia taking part in poisoning Alexander Litvinenko with polonium-210 in November 2006.

At the same time, the bilateral political dialogue was intensifying until the end of February 2014, when the United Kingdom began impeding it with regard to the situation in Ukraine and around Crimea.

On May 10, 2013, David Cameron went to Sochi on a working visit, where he held talks with Vladimir Putin. They also held separate bilateral talks at the Prime Minister’s residence on June 16, 2013, on the eve of the G8 summit in Lough Erne (June 17–18, 2013). They had a short conversation on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St Petersburg on September 6, 2013. The officials also had a bilateral meeting on June 5, 2014, in Paris. On November 14, 2014, Vladimir Putin met with David Cameron on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brisbane (Australia).

On March 13, 2013 the first meeting of 2+2 Strategic Dialogue with participation of Foreign and Defence Ministers was held in London. The parties discussed the situation in Syria and new ways to promote a Middle-East settlement, the normalisation process in Afghanistan and security in Europe, including expanding Russia-NATO contacts. They adopted a number of bilateral documents, including a joint communiqué about establishing the Strategic Dialogue, and a memorandum on Russia-UK Year of Culture in 2014.

It was planned to hold the next meeting of the Strategic Dialogue during the first half of 2014 in Moscow, however, London announced that it had not taken the final decision regarding the future of this format due to the situation in Ukraine, because “it cannot imagine how to hold it in the current situation.”

In 2012, the UK was prepared to renew talks on the draft bilateral agreement on military and technical cooperation, the work on which was frozen by the previous Labour Government in 2007 in connection with “Alexander Litvinenko’s case.” Between March 6–7, 2013, respevtive expert consultations were held at the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation in Moscow. However, the UK has currently suspended this work as part of the sanctions.

The UK still is one of Russia’s main trading partners. In 2016, the bilateral trade fell 7.3 per cent to $10.4 billion compared with 2015, Russian exports declined 7.1 per cent to $7 billion and imports dropped 7.8 per cent to $3.4 billion. At the end of the year, the volume of direct UK’s investments into Russia was $430 million.

Between January–June 2017, the bilateral trade was up (for the first time since 2013) 20.4 per cent to $5.8 billion compared with the same period in 2016, with Russian exports increasing by 21 per cent to $3.9 billion and imports going up 19.1 per cent to $1.9 billion. Russia’s surplus in trade with the UK stands at $2 billion.

On November 12, 2013, Moscow hosted the 10th session of the Russia-UK Intergovernmental Steering Committee on Trade and Investment chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov and Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable.

The 11th session the Russia-UK Intergovernmental Steering Committee on Trade and Investment was planned for the autumn of 2014 in London. However, the UK announced that the issue was crossed off the agenda with regard to the crisis in Ukraine. Since the parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom in May 2015, the UK has not appointed a new Chair.

On May 10, 2012, during the talks in Sochi, Vladimir Putin and David Cameron reached an agreement to establish High Level Energy Dialogue. The first meeting took place in London on June 10, 2013 (Russia was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich). It was planned to hold a regular meeting in this format from June 15–19, 2014, on the sidelines of the World Petroleum Congress in Moscow, but the UK declined it.

Contacts in education, science and culture are still developing.

Between October 16–17, 2013, London hosted the 10th meeting of the Russia-UK Joint Committee on Science & Technology Cooperation, where it was agreed to promote bilateral cooperation in biomedicine, nuclear and particle physics, nanotechnology, space, Arctic exploration, climate and energy efficiency.

The Russia-UK Year of Culture was held in 2014 at Russia’s initiative. The Russian part of the Organising Committee was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, and the British part by the Baroness D’Souza, Speaker of the House of Lords. The joint programme of the Year included about 200 events.

In 2016, the Russia-UK Year of Language and Literature took place. On the Russia’s side, the efforts were coordinated by Mikhail Shvydkoi, Special Presidential Envoy on International Cultural Cooperation, with the British Council on the UK’s side. During their events, the Brits emphasised the life and works of William Shakespeare, whose 400th death anniversary was marked in 2016.

The Russia-UK Year of Science and Education is held in 2017 to promote positive dynamics. On January 27, 2017, Mikhail Shvydkoi and Chief Executive of the British Council Sir Ciaran Devane officially announced the Year and its key events, and also presented its logo.

Meanwhile, Moscow and London still have serious issues with no light at the end of the tunnel at present. The UK is not yet ready for any dialogue on a bilateral visa agreement and on revising restrictive measures on issuing visas to Russian officials. The UK still refuses to fully restore contracts with the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, which impedes the development of Russia-UK cooperation in countering terrorism.

The Crown Prosecution Service still insists on the extradition of Russian citizen Andrei Lugovoi, despite the fact that it would be a violation of the Russian Constitution. At the same time, the UK law enforcement agencies do not want to satisfy the request of Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office to extradite Russian citizens, against whom criminal cases have been initiated (more than 20 requests to date). This approach by London stands in the way of fully progressive development of bilateral relations.

the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

GREAT BRITAIN

Official name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Area: 244.820 square kilometres.

Population: 65.3 million (as of January 2017) England (84%), Wales (4,8%), Scotland (8,3%) and Northern Ireland (2,9%).

Ethnic groups: English (76 percent), Scots (5.8 percent), Welsh (3.1 percent), Irish (1.9 percent), Indians (2.3 percent), Pakistanis (1.8 percent), Polish (0.9 percent), Bengalis (0.7 percent), Chinese (0.5 percent), Arabs (0.4 percent), CIS (0.3 percent), Iranians (0.1 percent) and others (6.1 percent).

Capital: London (8.6 million with suburbs). Largest cities: Birmingham (1.1 million), Leeds (751,500) and Glasgow (598,800).

Administrative division: England: 9 regions, 48 ceremonial counties, 83 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, 326 districts and about 4,500 civil parishes; Wales: 22 separate council areas (with 11 being counties and 11 county boroughs) and 6 cities; Northern Ireland: 26 districts and 2 cities; Scotland: 32 councils. The Isle of Man, and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey are independently administered jurisdictions.

Flag: “The Union Jack” red cross on white counterchanged with white cross on blue and red cross on white.

Anthem: “God Save the Queen” (1790, words by Henry Carey, composer unknown).

National celebration: Queen’s Official Birthday celebrated in June, exact date determined by the government every year.

Official languages: English, Welsh (20 percent of Wales population, 720,000 in total), Irish (200,000 in Northern Ireland), Scottish Gaelic (about 58,600 in Scotland), Scots (about 100,000 in several districts in Scotland and partly in Ulster), Ulster Scots (about 35,000 in Northern Ireland) and Cornish (3,500).

Religion: the Church of England (26 million) in England and Wales (Supreme Governor is the monarch), Presbyterian church in Scotland (headed by the General Assembly, which includes both priests and laymen), Catholics (9 million), Muslims (1.6 million).

Since 1931, the Commonwealth of Nations that are historically connected with the United Kingdom was formed. It has 52 members. London still controls 14 overseas territories: mostly small islands with total population of about 260,000.

The United Kingdom is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, participant of the OSCE and the Council of Europe; also a member of NATO (since 1949) and the European Union (since 1973); a member of the G7, the WTO, the OECD and the G20.

On June 23, 2016 the United Kingdom held a referendum on the membership in the European Union, with 51.89 percent voting to leave the EU. In total, 33.5 million of 46.5 registered took part in the voting (turnout of 72.15 percent). The majority in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar voted for the membership, whereas in England and Wales most people were against it.

Bilateral relations between Russia and England go as far back as the times of Ivan the Terrible (the middle of the 16th century). The first official contact was recorded in 1553. Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom were established on February 2, 1924. After the dissolution of the USSR, the United Kingdom recognised Russia as the successor state of the Soviet Union and established diplomatic relations with CIS countries.

Political system: the United Kingdom is a parliamentary monarchy.

Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II (in office since February 6, 1952). She is the 40th British monarch since the Norman conquest of England (1066). She is a member of the Windsor royal house. Queen Elizabeth II is also the longest-reigning British monarch, surpassing Queen Victoria in 2015 (reigned in 1837-1901).

Legislative authority: the bicameral Parliament, which consists of the House of Lords (803 members) and the House of Commons (650 deputies elected for five years). After the latest election, the structure of the House of Commons looks as follows: 318 MPs from the Conservative Party, 260 from the Labour Party, 35 from the Scottish National Party, 12 from the Liberal Democrats, 10 from the Democratic Unionist Party and 13 from others.

As a rule, the Government is formed by the leader of the majority party and/or supported by the majority of the MPs in the House of Commons. It consists of the Cabinet members, Cabinet ministers, ministers who are not part of the Cabinet and junior ministers (about 100 in total).

Prime Minister: Theresa May (born 1956); Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Boris Johnson (born 1964).

Legal framework: common law with elements of civil law and modern European law.

Judicial system: the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (formerly Appellate Committee of the House of Lords), Senior Courts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Court of Session in Scotland.

Main political parties:

The Conservative Party lost the majority in the House of Commons after an election on June 8, 2017, but managed to form a government with the silent support of the Democratic Unionist Party. The membership is about 150,000. The leader is Theresa May (since July 2016).

The Labour Party was founded in 1890. The membership is about 551,000. The leader is Jeremy Corbyn (since September 2015).

The Scottish National Party (SNP) is a centre-left political party, which campaigns for Scottish independence. It was founded in 1934 through the merger of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party. The membership is 120,000. The leader is Nicola Sturgeon (since November 2014).

The Liberal Democrats. It was formed in March 1988 by a merger between the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. The membership is about 80,000. The leader of the party is Vince Cable (since July 2017).

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) is a right-wing populist political party, which demands removing the United Kingdom from the European Union. It was founded in 1993. The membership is about 39,000.

Currency: Pound sterling (as of 23 June 2017, £1 = 76.15 roubles or $1.27).

GDP: GDP in the first quarter of 2017 was 0.2%.

Inflation: average annual rate was 2.7% as of May 2017.

Unemployment: 4,6% in April 2017.

Defense and security expenses: £45 billion as the result of 2015-2016 financial year.

Trade with Russia: In 2016, it decreased down to $10.4 billion, or by 7.3% compared with 2015. In the first six months of this year it grew (for the first time since 2013) up to $5.8 billion, or by 20.4% compared with the same period in 2016, with the Russian exports growing by 21% up to $3.9 million and imports growing by 19.1% up to $1.9 billion.

Anthem

UK

Embassy of Russia in London

Address :: 6/7 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W 8 4QP

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Phone :: +44 (0) 20 72-43-14-10; +44 (0) 20 72-21-44-82
Hotline :: +44 (0) 77-68 56-68-68
Fax: +44 (0) 20 77-27-86-25
E-mail: info@rusemb.org.uk - Consular queries; citizenship@rusemb.org.uk - Citizenship and adopted children queries; notariat@rusemb.org.uk - Notary queries; passport@rusemb.org.uk - Passport queries; press@rusemb.org.uk - Press and culture queries; science@rusemb.org.uk - Scientific queries; economy@rusemb.org.uk - Economy queries; bilateralrelations@rusemb.org.uk - Russia-UK relations queries; foreignpolicy@rusemb.org.uk - Foreign policy queries; agriculture@rusemb.org.uk - Agriculture queries
Web: https://london.mid.ru/; Twitter Rus.; Twitter Eng.; Facebook; Youtube; Instagram; Telegram

UK

Consular Division of the Russian Embassy in London

Address :: 5 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W 8 4QS

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Phone :: +44 (0) 20 36-68-74-74
Hotline :: +44 (0) 77-68 56-68-68
Fax: +44 (0) 20 72-29-32-15
E-mail: info@rusemb.org.uk

UK

Consulate General of Russia in Edinburgh

Address :: 58 Melville St., Edinburgh, EH3 7HF

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Phone :: +44 131 225-70-98
Hotline :: +44 (0) 78-05 93-24-54
Fax: +44 131 225-95-87
E-mail: visa@edconsul.co.uk
Web: https://edinburgh.mid.ru/; Twitter; Facebook; Youtube; Instagram; Vkontakte; Telegram

UK

Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Russian Federation

Address:: 1, Luhansk People's Republic Square, Moscow, 121099

Phone:: +7 495 956-72-00 (общие вопросы; консульские вопросы; пресса)
Fax: +7 495 956-74-81 (общий), +7 495 956-74-41 (визовые вопросы)
E-mail: ukinrussia@fco.uk.gov

General Information

Diplomatic and consular missions of Russia

Representative offices in Russia