London's Bashing of Russia Looks 'Entirely Unsound' Amid Brexit

The United Kingdom has been one of the staunchest critics of Russia, but London's tough stance on Moscow appears to be completely misguided at a time when the country is in the process of divorcing the European Union, Political analyst Vasily Koltashev told Radio Sputnik.

"One cannot rule out that [Washington and London] will work out a similar stance on Russia. The UK could soften its stance. In fact, their bashing of Russia looks entirely unsound amid Brexit," he said.

Koltashev, Director of the Center of Economic Studies at the Institute for Globalization Studies and Social Movements in Moscow, was commenting on British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's visit to the United States. On January 8 and 9, Johnson met with leading US Republicans and senior members of US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, including chief strategist Steve Bannon and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has been named senior adviser to the US president-elect.

Great visit to the #US. Held valuable discussions in #NYC yesterday w/ senior members of President-elect @realDonaldTrump's team (1/2)

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 9 января 2017 г.

Excellent talking today w/ @SpeakerRyan & other Congressional leaders @SenateMajLdr @SenBobCorker @SenatorCardin. #SpecialRelationship (2/2) pic.twitter.com/c2zYufuwvh

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 9 января 2017 г.

​Koltashev also said that the United States and the United Kingdom have a mutual interest in promoting bilateral ties as the "special relationship" between key allies in going through a rough patch.

"I think they discussed cooperation between the United States and Great Britain in the context of increasing tensions with the European Union. The UK is in the process of leaving the EU. The bloc has criticized Trump. In these circumstances both Washington and London feel the need to promote dialogue. Both the US and Great Britain are interested in fostering closer relations. The UK does not really understand what to do with its economy. They don't have an economic strategy. Things are not good for them. Everyone sees this. They don't know what to do," he said.

The political analyst further said that Johnson's visit had a personal dimension. Prior to the US presidential election Johnson said that Donald Trump was "clearly out of his mind" over his stance on Muslims and he would not go to New York due to a "real risk of meeting" the outspoken billionaire-turned-politician.

London "was absolutely lost when Trump won the election, they have damaged their reputation. Imagine that you come to the negotiating table to hold talks with a person whom you hurled insults at. Now you are saying, 'Let's be friends.' What will he think about you? He won't believe you. In this respect Johnson's visit has a personal aspect to it since he had said many things that he shouldn't have said," the analyst said.

Koltashev warned against expecting a lot from these meetings, calling them a "test dialogue" and "an attempt to build relations."

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