Russian Embassy in London Welcomes UK Parliament's Attention to Bilateral Ties

The Russian embassy in London on Thursday welcomed the British parliament showing interest in UK-Russian relations after UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee issued a report calling for more dialogue between the two countries.

LONDON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the committee released a report recommending UK authorities to establish a constructive dialogue with Russia. The report warned of the dangers of non-engagement with Russia amid the current standoff over the crisis in Ukraine and Syria, as well as urging the government to clarify its post-Brexit stance on EU anti-Russian sanctions and to appoint a junior Foreign Office minister to oversee relations with Russia and its regional neighbors.

"We welcome the Committee’s interest towards the deplorable state of Russia-UK relationship. The Embassy made a contribution to its deliberations through a written submission. Overall, we appreciate this effort as an honest attempt to better understand the origins of the present situation and develop a coherent approach to managing our bilateral relationship in a constructive fashion," the embassy said in a statement.

Thursday's report also reaffirmed UK opposition to Russia's alleged intervention in the Ukrainian conflict and the support for Ukraine against Russian "encroachment." The Syrian issue was more toned down, with parliamentarians stressing that the UK government had never backed up its claims of Russian war crimes in the Arab country. The report went on to talk about Russian-based media outlets such as RT and Sputnik, questioning their impartiality. Both outlets have rejected the points as biased and lacking evidence of alleged "fake news."

Despite an overall positive effort, the House of Commons investigation was limited by the Western narrative of Russia and included a number of unsupported allegations, the Russian embassy stressed.

"These limitations reflect the inertia of the Cold-War politics. We do hope that the recent events in the West, including the outcome of the June referendum in Britain, are signs of a potential taking shape for a clean break with the past in the West in response to the requirements of their societies’ transformation," the statement said.

The Foreign Affairs Committee expects the government to respond to the report within two months, according to its chair Crispin Blunt. Blunt also expressed readiness for holding dialogue with his Russian counterpart Leonid Slutsky.