This is what Michael McFaul, former US envoy to Russia, did earlier on Friday. The American diplomat "and others who genuinely believe that the Dead Sea is dying because of Russia, have already 'congratulated' us" on the British vote, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Facebook.
Once the Leave campaign secured a comfortable lead, McFaul took to Twitter to "genuinely complement Putin for his victory tonight on Brexit," saying that the vote "is a giant victory for Putin's foreign policy objectives."
I genuinely complement Putin for his victory tonight on Brexit, but Russians scream defensively, "Putin is not guilty'. What does that mean?
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) 24 июня 2016 г.
Not always, but tonight is giant victory for Putin's foreign policy objectives. Give him credit. https://t.co/9kXQQiT3nC
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) 24 июня 2016 г.
Keep in mind that McFaul did not say that Vladimir Putin or Russia influenced the vote or were a factor that contributed to the outcome. The Russian president "just benefited from it," he suggested.
Putin did not cause the outcome; he just benefited from it. https://t.co/n0YDnFIztQ
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) 24 июня 2016 г.
Russian Duma Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Alexei Pushkov for instance maintained that McFaul should have focused on pondering why the majority of Britons backed leaving the EU after US President Barack Obama urged them not to. McFaul replied that this was a fair point.
For her part, Zakharova reflected on what forced the UK to the polling stations in the first place.
"A couple more years of shedding sovereignty when it comes to making independent decisions on international matters and upholding sanctions and the EU will create all the necessary conditions for other referendums on its territory," she observed.
