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Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov offered the BBC a very strange response when asked what he thought of the UK general election.
Shortly after Labour secured a landslide victory and the Conservatives endured a historic loss, the BBC’s Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg asked one of Putin’s top aides what this could mean for international relations between the two countries.
“Ah, it’s you!” Lavrov said with a chuckle upon seeing the famous BBC journalist.
Rosenberg replied: “It’s me, yes… Do you think anything will change in UK-Russian relations?”
“Diplomacy is not an art of guessing,” Lavrov said, staring back at the reporter.
There was a pause while Rosenberg waited for further explanation, before he said: “What is it?”
Lavrov replied: “You know the saying about the pudding? You understand that this is a pudding when you eat it.”
The UK has been resolutely on Ukraine’s side ever since Putin chose to invade the country back in 2022.
And, like many Western countries, it has tried to hit Russia’s economy by weaning itself off Russian oil and gas exports, and imposing sanctions.
Lavrov’s comments come after Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said he does not think Labour’s victory will alter anything between the two countries.
He told Sky News: “This is domestic affairs for Great Britain, so as far as we understand it, it can hardly influence the Russian-Britain relationship.”
Asked if thought Putin would ever “welcome” Keir Starmer to the Kremlin, Peskov said: “It is very much unlikely.”
Pressed over what it would take for Starmer to get an invitation, Peskov said: “Putin is open to contact. This is Britain, this is London, that insists there shouldn’t be any continuation of dialogue.”
Peskov said he did not think the Russian president would be phoning Starmer to congratulate him on his win any time soon, saying: “Britain is quite hostile towards our country. Why should we do it?”
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