 | |
 United Kingdom |  Russia |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| British Embassy, Moscow | Embassy of Russia, London |
| Envoy | |
| AmbassadorNigel Casey | AmbassadorAndrey Kelin |
Russia–United Kingdom relations, alsoAnglo-Russian relations,[1] are the bilateral relations between theRussian Federation and theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Formal ties between the nations started in 1553. Russia and Britain became allies againstNapoleon in the early-19th century. They were enemies in theCrimean War of the 1850s, and rivals in theGreat Game for control ofCentral Asia in the latter half of the 19th century. They allied again in World WarsI andII, although theRussian Revolution of 1917 strained relations. The two countries again became enemies during theCold War (1947–1989). Russia's business tycoons developed strong ties with London financial institutions in the 1990s after thedissolution of the USSR in 1991. Due to theRussian invasion of Ukraine, relations became very tense after the United Kingdom imposed sanctions against Russia. It was subsequently added to Russia'slist of "unfriendly countries".
The two countries share a history of intense espionage activity against each other, with the Soviet Union succeeding inpenetration of top echelons of the British intelligence and security establishment in the 1930s–1950s while concurrently, the British co-opted top Russian intelligence officers throughout the period including the 1990s whereby British spies such asSergei Skripal acting within the Russian intelligence establishment passed on extensive details of their intelligence agents operating throughout Europe.[2] Since the 19th century, England has been a popular destination for Russian politicalexiles,refugees, and wealthy fugitives from theRussophone world.
In the early-21st century, especially following thepoisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, relations became strained. In the early years ofDavid Cameron as UK prime minister, there was a brief uptick in relations, up until 2014.[3] Since 2014, relations have grown increasingly unfriendly due to theRusso-Ukrainian War (2014–present) and thepoisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in 2018. In the wake of the poisoning, 28 countries expelled suspected Russian spies acting as diplomats.[4] In June 2021, a confrontation occurred betweenHMS Defender and theRussian Armed Forces in the2021 Black Sea incident.
Following theRussian invasion of Ukraine, relations between the twonuclear powers collapsed entirely; the United Kingdomimposed economic sanctions on Russian outlets, seized the assets ofRussian oligarchs, recalled its citizens and severed all business ties with Russia.[5] Russia retaliated with its own sanctions against the UK and accused it of involvement in attacks againstSevastopol Naval Base, theNord Stream gas pipeline and theCrimean Bridge.[6][7] The UK is one of the largest donors of financial and military aid to Ukraine and was the first country in Europe to donate lethal military aid.[8][9]
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TheKingdom of England andTsardom of Russia established relations in 1553 when English navigatorRichard Chancellor arrived at a port that later becameArkhangelsk (Archangel) in theWhite Sea – at which timeMary I ruled England andIvan the Terrible ruled Russia. He returned to England and was sent back to Russia in 1555, the same year theMuscovy Company was established.
Tsar Ivan IV of Russia and Queen Elizabeth I of England maintained diplomatic relations in the late 16th century through intermediaries such as the English merchant and diplomatAnthony Jenkinson. In the late 1570s, Ivan IV sent ambassadors to England with a proposal of marriage to Elizabeth herself. This was a strategic move, likely aimed at securing an alliance with England, which was a rising maritime power. For Ivan, such an alliance could have provided a counterbalance to the influence of other European powers. Elizabeth, known for her diplomatic shrewdness, did not outright reject the proposal but responded with diplomatic politeness, avoiding a direct refusal while also not seriously entertaining the proposal. The marriage never materialized, and the correspondence between Ivan and Elizabeth continued for some time.[12][13]
The Muscovy Company held a monopoly over trade between England and Russia until 1698.Tsar Alexei was outraged by theExecution of Charles I of England in 1649, and expelled all English traders and residents from Russia in retaliation.[14]
In 1697–1698 during theGrand Embassy of Peter I the Russian tsar visited England for three months. He improved relations and learned the best new technology especially regarding ships and navigation.[15]
TheKingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) and later theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) had increasingly important ties with theRussian Empire (1721–1917), after Tsar Peter I brought Russia into European affairs and declared himself an emperor. From the 1720s Peter invited British engineers to Saint Petersburg, leading to the establishment of a small but commercially influentialAnglo-Russian expatriate merchant community from 1730 to 1921. During the series of general European wars of the 18th century, the two empires found themselves as sometime allies and sometime enemies. The two states fought on the same side duringWar of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), but on opposite sides duringSeven Years' War (1756–63), although did not at any time engage in the field.
Prime MinisterWilliam Pitt the Younger was alarmed atRussian expansion in Crimea in the 1780s at the expense of hisOttoman ally.[16] He tried to get Parliamentary support for reversing it. In peace talks with the Ottomans, Russia refused to return the keyOchakov fortress. Pitt wanted to threaten military retaliation. However, Russia's ambassadorSemyon Vorontsov organised Pitt's enemies and launched a public opinion campaign. Pitt won the vote so narrowly that he gave up and Vorontsov secured a renewal of the commercial treaty between Britain and Russia.[17][18]
The outbreak of theFrench Revolution and itsattendant wars temporarily united constitutionalist Britain and autocratic Russia in an ideological alliance againstFrench republicanism. Britain and Russia attempted to halt the French but the failure of theirjoint invasion of the Netherlands in 1799 precipitated a change in attitudes.
Britain createdMalta Protectorate in 1800, while the emperorPaul I of Russia wasGrand Master of the Knights Hospitaller. That led to the never-executedIndian March of Paul, which was a secret project of a planned allied Russo-French expedition against theBritish possessions in India.
In 1805 both countries again attempted to combine operations with British expeditions to North Germany and Southern Italy in concert with Russian expeditionary corps were intended to create diversions in favour of Austria. However, several spectacular French victories in central Europe ended theThird Coalition.
Following the heavy Russian defeat atFriedland, Russia was obliged to enter Napoleon'sContinental System, barring all trade with Britain. Subsequently, both countries entered into a state of limited war, theAnglo-Russian War (1807–1812), although neither side actively prosecuted operations against each other.
In 1812 Britain and Russia once again became allies againstNapoleon in theNapoleonic Wars. The United Kingdom gave financial and material support to Russia during the French invasion in 1812, following which both countries pledged to keep 150,000 men in the field until Napoleon had been totally defeated. They both played major cooperative roles at theCongress of Vienna in 1814–1815 establishing a twenty-year alliance to guarantee European peace.
From 1820 to 1907, geopolitical disputes led to a gradual deterioration in Anglo-Russian relations. Popular sentiment in Britain turned increasingly hostile to Russia, with a high degree of anxiety for the safety ofBritish rule in India. The result was a long-standing rivalry inCentral Asia.[19] In addition, there was a growing concern that Russia would destabilise Eastern Europe by its attacks on the falteringOttoman Empire. This fear was known as theEastern Question.[20] Russia was especially interested in getting a warm water port that would enable its navy. Getting access out of the Black Sea into the Mediterranean was a goal, which meant access through the Straits controlled by the Ottomans.[21]
Both intervened in theGreek War of Independence (1821–1829), eventually forcing theLondon peace treaty on the belligerents. The events heightened BritishRussophobia. In 1851 theGreat Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations held in London'sCrystal Palace, including over 100,000 exhibits from forty nations. It was the world's first international exposition. Russia took the opportunity to dispel Russophobia in Britain by refuting stereotypes of Russia as a backward, militaristic repressive tyranny. Its sumptuous exhibits of luxury products and large 'objets d'art' with little in the way of advanced technology, however, did little to change its reputation. Britain considered its navy too weak to worry about, but saw its large army as a major threat.[22]
The Russian pressures on the Ottoman Empire continued, leaving Britain and France to ally with the Ottomans and push back against Russia in theCrimean War (1853–1856). Russophobia was an element in generating popular support in Britain for the far-off conflict.[23] Public opinion in Britain, especially amongWhigs, supported Polish revolutionaries who were resistingRussian rule in Poland, after theNovember Uprising of 1830. The British government watched nervously asSaint Petersburg suppressed the subsequentPolish revolts in the early 1860s, yet refused to intervene.[24][25]
London hosted the first Russian-language censorship-free periodicals —Polyarnaya Zvezda [ru], Golosa iz Rossii, andKolokol ("The Bell") — were published byAlexander Herzen andNikolai Ogaryov in 1855–1865, which were of exceptional influence on Russian liberal intellectuals in the first several years of publication.[26] The periodicals were published by theFree Russian Press set up by Herzen in 1853, on the eve of the Crimean War, financed by the funds Herzen had managed to expatriate from Russia with the help of his bankers, the Paris branch of theRothschild family.[27]
Russia's defeat in the Crimean War had been widely perceived by Russians as a humiliation and sharpened their desire for revenge. Tensions between the governments of Russia and Britain grew during the mid-century period. Since 1815 there had been an ideological cold war between reactionary Russia and liberal Britain. The Russians helpedAustria brutally suppress the liberalHungarian revolt during theRevolutions of 1848–49 to the dismay of the British. Russian leaders felt their nation's leniency in the 1820s allowed liberalism to spread in the West.[28]
They deplored the liberalrevolutions of 1830 inFrance,Belgium, central Europe; worst of all was the anti-Russian revolt that had to be crushed in Poland. New strategic and economic competition heightened tensions in the late 1850s, as the British moved into Asian markets. Russia's suppression of tribal revolts in the Caucasian region released troops for campaigns to expand Russian influence in central Asia, which the British interpreted as a long-term threat to theBritish Empire in India.[28] There was strong hostility among British government officials to the repeated Russian threats to the Ottoman Empire with the goal of controlling theDardanelles connecting theBlack Sea and theMediterranean Sea.[29]
Beginning from the early 19th century, depictions of Russia in the British media, largely drawing on the reports of British travel writers and newspaper correspondents, frequently presented a "distorted picture" of the country; scholar Iwona Sawkowicz argues that this was due to the "brief visits" of these writers and correspondents, many of whom did not speakRussian and were "looking mostly for cultural differences." These depictions had the effect of increasing Russophobia in Britain despite growing economic and political ties between the two countries.[30] In 1874, tension lessened asQueen Victoria's second sonPrince Alfred marriedTsar Alexander II's only daughterGrand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, followed by a cordial state visit by the tsar. The goodwill lasted no more than three years, when structural forces again pushed the two nations to the verge of war.[31]
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Anglo-Russian rivalries grew steadily over Central Asia during the so-called "Great Game" of the late 19th century.[32] Russia desired warm-water ports on theIndian Ocean while Britain wanted to prevent Russian troops from gaining a potential invasion route toIndia.[33] In 1885 Russia annexed part ofAfghanistan in thePanjdeh incident, which caused a war scare. After nearly completing theRussian conquest of Central Asia (Russian Turkestan) the Russians captured an Afghan border fort. Seeing a threat to India, Britain came close to threatening war but both sides backed down and the matter was settled by diplomacy.[34]
The effect was to stop further Russian expansion in Asia, except for thePamir Mountains, and to define the north-western border of Afghanistan. However, Russia's foreign ministerNikolay Girs and his ambassador to LondonBaron de Staal in 1887 set up a buffer zone in Central Asia. Russian diplomacy thereby won grudging British acceptance of its expansionism.[34] Persia was also an arena of tension, but without warfare.[35]
Although Britain had serious disagreements with Russia regarding Russia's threat to the Ottoman Empire, and perhaps even to India, tensions were much lower in theFar East. London tried to maintain friendly relations in the 1860–1917 period and did reach a number of accommodations with Russia innortheastern Asia. Both nations were expanding in that direction. Russia built theTrans-Siberian Railway in the 1890s, and the British were expanding their large-scale commercial activities inChina usingHong Kong, and thetreaty ports of China. Russia sought a year-round port south of its main base inVladivostok.[36][37]
The key ingredient was that both nations were more fearful of Japanese plans than they were of each other; they both saw the need to collaborate. They cooperated with each other (and France) in forcingJapan to disgorge some of its gains after it won theFirst Sino-Japanese War of 1894. Russia increasingly became a protector of China against Japanese intentions. TheOpen Door policy promoted by the United States and Britain was designed to allow all nations on an equal footing to trade with China and was accepted by Russia. All the major powers collaborated in theEight-Nation Alliance defending their diplomats during theBoxer Rebellion.[36][37]
The British signed amilitary alliance with Japan in 1902, as well as anagreement with Russia in 1907 that resolved their major disputes. AfterRussia was defeated by Japan in 1905, those two countries work together on friendly terms to divide upManchuria. Thus by 1910 the situation among the great powers in the Far East was generally peaceful with no troubles in sight. When theFirst World War broke out in 1914, Britain, Russia, Japan and China all declared war on Germany, and cooperated in defeating and dividing up its Imperial holdings.[36][37]
At the same time, Russophilia flourished in Britain, founded on the popularity of Russian novelists such asLeo Tolstoy andFyodor Dostoyevsky, and sympathetic views of Russian peasants.[38]
Following theassassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, exiles from the radicalNarodnaya Volya party and other opponents of Tsarism found their way to Britain.Sergei Stepniak andFelix Volkhovsky set up the Russian Free Press Fund, along with a journal, Free Russia, to generate support for reforms to, and abolition of, Russian autocracy. They were supported by liberal, nonconformist and left-wing Britons in the Society of Friends of Russian Freedom. There was also considerable support for victims of the Russian famine of 1891–2 and the Jewish and Christian victims of Tsarist persecution.[39]
There was cooperation in Asia, however, as Britain and Russia joined many others to protect their interests in China during theBoxer Rebellion (1899–1901).[40]
Britain was an ally of Japan after 1902, but remained strictly neutral and did not participate in theRusso-Japanese War of 1904–5.[41][42][43] However, there was a brief war scare in theDogger Bank incident in October 1905 when theImperial Russian Navy'sBaltic Fleet, headed to thePacific Ocean to fight theImperial Japanese Navy, mistakenly engaged a number of British fishing vessels in theNorth Sea fog. The Russians thought they were Japanese torpedo boats, and sank one, killing three fishermen. The British public was angry but Russia apologised and damages were levied through arbitration.[44]
Diplomacy became delicate in the early 20th century. Russia was troubled by theEntente Cordiale between Great Britain and France signed in 1904. Russia and France already had a mutual defense agreement that said France was obliged to threaten Britain with an attack if Britain declared war on Russia, while Russia was to concentrate more than 300,000 troops on the Afghan border for an incursion into India in the event that Britain attacked France.[45]
The solution was to bring Russia into the British-French alliance. TheAnglo-Russian Entente and theAnglo-Russian Convention of 1907 made both countries part of theTriple Entente.[45] The Convention was a formal treaty demarcating British and Russian spheres of influence in Central Asia. It enabled Britain to focus on the growing threat from Germany at sea and in central Europe.[46]
The Convention ended the long-standing rivalry in central Asia, and then enabled the two countries to outflank the Germans, who were threatening to connectBerlin toBaghdad with anew railroad that would probably align the Turkish Empire with Germany. The Convention ended the long dispute overPersia. Britain promised to stay out of the northern half, while Russia recognised southern Persia as part of the British sphere of influence. Russia also promised to stay out of Tibet and Afghanistan. In exchange London extended loans and some political support.[47][48] The Convention led to the formation of theTriple Entente.[49]
Both countries were then part of the subsequentalliance against theCentral Powers inWorld War I. In the summer of 1914,Austria-Hungary attackedSerbia, Russia promised to help Serbia, Germany promised to help Austria, and war broke out between Russia and Germany. France supported Russia. Under Foreign MinisterSir Edward Gray Britain felt its national interest would be badly hurt if Germany conqueredBelgium and France. It was neutral untilGermany suddenly invaded Belgium and France. Britain declared war becoming an ally of France and Russia against Germany and Austria.[50]
The alliance lasted when the February 1917 Revolution in Russia overthrewTsar Nicholas II and theRussian monarchy. However When the Bolsheviks under Lenin took power in November, they made peace with Germany—theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk was in effect a surrender with massive loss of territory. Russia ended all diplomatic and trade relations with Britain, and repudiated all debts to London and Paris. The British supported theanti-Bolshevik forces during theRussian Civil War, but they lost, and Britain restored trade relations in 1921.[51]
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 Soviet Union | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
In 1918, with theGerman Army advancing toward Moscow inOperation Faustschlag, theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic under Lenin made many concessions to the German Empire in return for peace. The Allies felt betrayed by theTreaty of Brest Litovsk signed on 3 March 1918.[52] Towards theend of World War I, Britain began to send troops to Russia to participate in theAllied intervention in the Russian Civil War which lasted up to 1925, aiming to topple the newly-formed socialist government the Bolsheviks had created. As late as 1920, Grigory Zinoviev called for a "holy war" againstBritish imperialism at a rally inBaku.[53]
Following the withdrawal of British troops from Russia, negotiations for trade began, and on 16 March 1921, theAnglo-Soviet Trade Agreement was concluded between the two countries.[54] Lenin'sNew Economic Policy downplayed socialism and emphasised business dealings with capitalist countries, in an effort to restart the sluggishRussian economy. Britain was the first country to accept Lenin's offer of a trade agreement. It ended the British blockade, and Russian ports were opened to British ships. Both sides agreed to refrain from hostile propaganda. It amounted to de facto diplomatic recognition and opened a period of extensive trade.[55]
Britain formally recognised theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union, 1922–1991) on 1 February 1924.[56] However, Anglo-Soviet relations were still marked by distrust and contention, culminating in a diplomatic break in 1927. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed at the end of May 1927 after a police raid on theAll Russian Co-operative Society whereafterConservative British prime ministerStanley Baldwin presented theHouse of Commons with deciphered Soviet telegrams that proved Soviet espionage activities.[57][58] The fallout from this incident contributed to theSoviet war scare of 1927, as it led to a domestic Soviet fear of an invasion, although the fear is generally considered by historians to have been created by Stalin to use against his opponents in theLeft Opposition.[59] After the1929 general election, the incomingLabour government ofRamsay MacDonald successfully established permanent diplomatic relations.[60]
In 1938, Britain and France negotiated theMunich Agreement withNazi Germany. Stalin opposed the pact and refused to recognise the German annexation of theCzechoslovakSudetenland.
The USSR and Germany signed theNon-aggression Pact in late August 1939, which promised the Soviets control of about half of Eastern Europe, and removed the risk to Germany of atwo-front war.Germany invaded Poland on 1 September, and theSoviets followed sixteen days later. Many members of theCommunist Party in Britain and sympathisers were outraged and quit. Those who remained strove to undermine the British war effort and campaigned for what the party called a 'people's peace', i.e. a negotiated settlement with Hitler.[61][62] Britain, along with France, declared war on Germany, but not the USSR. The British people were sympathetic to Finland in itsWinter War against the USSR[citation needed]. The USSR furthermore supplied oil to the Germans which Hitler'sLuftwaffe needed in itsBlitz against Britain in 1940.
In June 1941, Germany launchedOperation Barbarossa, attacking the USSR. Britain and the USSR agreed an alliance the following month with theAnglo-Soviet Agreement. TheAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in August overthrewReza Shah and secured the oil fields inIran from falling intoAxis hands. TheArctic convoys transported supplies between Britain and the USSR during the war. Britain was quick to provide limitedmateriel aid to the Soviet Union – including tanks and aircraft – via these convoys in order to try to keep her new ally in the war against Germany and her allies.[63]
One major conduit for supplies was through Iran. The two nations agreed on a joint occupation of Iran, to neutralise German influence. After the war, there were disputes about the Soviet delayed departure from Iran, and speculation that it planned to set up a puppet state along its border. That problem was resolved completely in 1946.[64] The Soviet Union joined theSecond Inter-Allied Meeting in London in September. The USSR thereafter became one of the "Big Three"Allies of World War II along with Britain and, from December, the United States, fighting against theAxis powers.
A twenty-year mutual assistance agreement, theAnglo-Soviet Treaty was signed in May 1942, reasserting themilitary alliance until the end of the war and formalizing apolitical alliance between theSoviet Union and theBritish Empire for 20 years.
In August 1942,Winston Churchill, accompanied by AmericanW. Averell Harriman,went to Moscow and met Stalin for the first time. The British were nervous that Stalin and Hitler might make separate peace terms; Stalin insisted that would not happen. Churchill explained how Arctic convoys bringing munitions to Russia had been intercepted by the Germans; there was a delay now so that future convoys would be better protected. He apologetically explained there would be no second front this year—no British-American invasion of France—which Stalin had been urgently requesting for months. The will was there, said Churchill, but there was not enough American troops, not enough tanks, not enough shipping, not enough air superiority. Instead the British, and soon the Americans, would step upbombing of German cities and railways. Furthermore, there would be "Operation Torch" in November. It would be a major Anglo-American invasion of North Africa, which would set the stage for aninvasion of Italy and perhaps open theMediterranean for munitions shipments to Russia through theBlack Sea. The talks started out on a very sour note but after many hours of informal conversations, the two men understood each other and knew they could cooperate smoothly.[65][66]
Stalin was adamant about British support for new boundaries for Poland, and Britain went along. They agreed that after victory Poland's boundaries would be moved westward, so that the USSR took over lands in the east while Poland gained lands in the west that had been under German control.
They agreed on the "Curzon Line" as the boundary between Poland and the Soviet Union) and theOder-Neisse line would become the new boundary between Germany and Poland. The proposed changes angered thePolish government in exile in London, which did not want to lose control over its minorities. Churchill was convinced that the only way to alleviate tensions between the two populations was the transfer of people, to match the national borders. As he toldParliament on 15 December 1944, "Expulsion is the method which... will be the most satisfactory and lasting. There will be no mixture of populations to cause endless trouble.... A clean sweep will be made."[67]
The U.S. and Britain each approached Moscow in its own way; there was little coordination. Churchill wanted specific, pragmatic deals, typified by the percentage arrangement. Roosevelt's highest priority was to have the Soviets eagerly and energetically participate in the newUnited Nations, and he also wanted them to enter thewar against Japan.[68]
In October 1944, Churchill and foreign ministerAnthony Eden met Stalin and his foreign ministerVyacheslav Molotov in Moscow. They discussed who would control what in the rest of postwar Eastern Europe. The Americans were not present, were not given shares, and were not fully informed. After lengthy bargaining the two sides settled on along-term plan for the division of the region, the plan was to give 90% of the influence inGreece to Britain and 90% inRomania to Russia. Russia gained an 80%/20% division inBulgaria andHungary. There was a 50/50 division inYugoslavia.[69][70]
Followingthe end of the Second World War, relations between theSoviet Bloc and theWestern Bloc deteriorated quickly. Former British prime minister Churchill claimed that the Soviet occupation ofEastern Europe after World War II amounted to 'aniron curtain has descended across the continent.' Relations were generally tense during the ensuingCold War, typified byspying and other covert activities. The British and AmericanVenona Project was established in 1942 forcryptanalysis of messages sent bySoviet intelligence. Soviet spies were later discovered in Britain, such asKim Philby and theCambridge Five spy ring, which was operating in England until 1963.
The Soviet spy agency, theKGB, was suspected of the murder ofGeorgi Markov in London in 1978. A High ranking KGB official,Oleg Gordievsky, defected to London in 1985.
British prime ministerMargaret Thatcher pursued a stronganti-communist policy in concert withRonald Reagan during the 1980s, in contrast with thedétente policy of the 1970s. During theSoviet–Afghan War the British conductedcovert military support as well as sending arms and supplies to theAfghan Mujahideen.
Relations improved considerably afterMikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union in 1985 and launchedperestroika. They remained relatively warm after thecollapse of the USSR in 1991 – with Russia taking over the international obligations and status from the demised superpower.
In October 1994, Queen Elizabeth IImade a state visit to Russia, the first time a ruling British monarch had set foot on Russian soil.[71]
Relations between the countries began to grow tense again shortly afterVladimir Putin was elected asPresident of the Russian Federation in 2000, with the Kremlin pursuing a more assertiveforeign policy and imposing more controls domestically. The major irritant in the early-2000s was the UK's refusal to extraditeRussian citizens, self-exiled businessmanBoris Berezovsky andChechen separatist leaderAkhmed Zakayev, whom the UK grantedpolitical asylum.[72]
In late 2006, formerFSB officerAlexander Litvinenko waspoisoned inLondon by radioactive metalloid,Polonium-210 and died three weeks later. The UK requested the extradition ofAndrei Lugovoy from Russia to face charges over Litvinenko's death. Russia refused, stating theirconstitution does not allow extradition of their citizens to foreign countries. As a result of this, the United Kingdom expelled four Russian diplomats, shortly followed by Russia expelling four British diplomats.[73] The Litvinenko affair remains a major irritant in British-Russian relations.[74] In the aftermath of the Litvinenko poisoning, the UK's special security service agencies,MI5 andMI6 severed their relations, and co-operation with Russia's special security agency theFSB.[75]
In July 2007, theCrown Prosecution Service announced thatBoris Berezovsky would not face charges in the UK for talking toThe Guardian about plotting a "revolution" in his homeland.Kremlin officials called it a "disturbing moment" in Anglo-Russian relations. Berezovsky remained a wanted man in Russia until his death in March 2013; having been accused ofembezzlement andmoney laundering.[76]
Russia re-commenced long range air patrols of theTupolev Tu-95 bomber aircraft in August 2007. These patrols neared British airspace, requiringRAF fighter jets to "scramble" and intercept them.[77][78]
In January 2008, Russia ordered two offices of theBritish Council situated in Russia to shut down, accusing them of tax violations. Eventually, work was suspended at the offices, with the council citing "intimidation" by the Russian authorities as the reason.[79][80] However, later in the year a Moscow court threw out most of the tax claims made against the British Council, ruling them invalid.[81]
During the2008 South Ossetia war between Russia andGeorgia, then-UK foreign secretary,David Miliband, visited the Georgian capital city ofTbilisi to meet with the Georgian President and said the UK's government and people "stood in solidarity" with the Georgian people.[82]
Earlier in 2009, then solicitor-general,Vera Baird, personally decided that the property of theRussian Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, which had been the subject of a legal dispute following the decision of the administering Bishop and half its clergy and lay adherents to move to the jurisdiction of theEcumenical Patriarchate, would have to remain with theMoscow Patriarchate. She was forced to reassure concerned Members of Parliament that her decision had been made only on legal grounds, and that diplomatic and foreign policy questions had played no part. Baird's determination of the case was however endorsed by the attorney-generalBaroness Patricia Scotland. It attracted much criticism. However, questions continue to be raised that Baird's decision was designed not to offend the Putin government in Russia.
In November 2009,David Miliband visited Russia and described the state of relations between the two countries as "respectful disagreement".[83]
Meanwhile, both the UK and Russia declassified a large amount of contemporary material from the highest levels of the political power. In 2004, Alexander Fursenko of theRussian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and Arne Westad of theLondon School of Economics started a project to disclose British–Soviet relations during theCold War. Four years, the project's direction passed to the historian Alexandr Chubarian, also a member of the RAS, who in 2016 completed the documentation covering from 1943 to 1953.[84]
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In the years after David Cameron became UK prime minister, UK-Russia relations initially showed a marked improvement. In 2011, Cameron visited Russia, and in 2012, Putin visited the UK for the first time in seven years, holding talks with Cameron, and also visiting the2012 London Olympics together.[85]
In May 2013, Cameron flew to meet Putin at his summer residence inSochi, Bocharov Ruchei, to hold talks on theSyria crisis. Cameron described the talks as "very substantive, purposeful and useful", and the leaders exchanged presents with each other. Cameron emphasised the 'commonalities between the two countries', and renewed cooperation between the countries' security services for the2014 Sochi Olympics. Cameron stated at this time that a more effective relationship between the UK and Russia would "make people in both our countries safer and better off".[86] At that time, it was suggested that Cameron could use his good relations with both US presidentBarack Obama, and President Putin to act as a 'go-between' in international relations.[87]
In 2014, relations soured drastically following theRusso-Ukrainian War, with the British government, along with the United States and the European Union, imposingpunitive sanctions on Russia. Cameron criticised the2014 Crimean status referendum as a "sham", with voters having "voted under the barrel of a kalashnikov", stating "Russia has sought to annex Crimea.... This is a flagrant breach of international law and something we will not recognise."[88] In March 2014, the UK suspended all military cooperation with Russia and halted all extant licences for direct military export to Russia.[89] In September 2014, there were more rounds of sanctions imposed by the EU, targeted atRussian banking andoil industries, and at high officials. Russia responded by cutting off food imports from the UK and other countries imposing sanctions.[90] UK prime minister David Cameron and U.S. president Barack Obama jointly wrote forThe Times in early September: "Russia has ripped up the rulebook with its illegal, self-declaredannexation of Crimea and its troops on Ukrainian soil threatening and undermining a sovereign nation state."[91][92]
In 2016, 52% of British people decided tovote in favor for the country's exit from theEuropean Union, which was known asBrexit. As shockwave were sent across the country, both Cameron and British officials accused Russia of meddling the vote.[93] Future British prime minister,Boris Johnson, was accused of being a Russian stooge and underestimating Russian interference.[94][95]
According to anIntelligence and security committee report the British government and intelligence agencies failed to conduct any proper assessment of Kremlin attempts to interfere with the Brexit referendum.[96]
In early 2017, during her meeting with U.S. presidentDonald Trump, the UK prime ministerTheresa May appeared to take a line harsher than that of the U.S. on the Russian sanctions.[97] In April 2017, Moscow's ambassador to the UKAlexander Yakovenko strongly criticised the UK for "raising tensions in Europe" by deploying 800 troops to Estonia. Yakovenko stated that UK-Russia relations were at an "all-time low", adding that there was no longer any "bilateral relationship of substance" between the countries.[98]
In mid-November 2017, in herGuildhall speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, prime minister May called Russia "chief among those today, of course" who sought to undermine the "open economies and free societies" Britain was committed to, according to her.[99][100] She went on to elaborate: "[Russia] is seeking to weaponise information. Deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories and photo-shopped images in an attempt to sow discord in the West and undermine our institutions. So I have a very simple message for Russia. We know what you are doing. And you will not succeed."[99] In response, Russian parliamentarians said Theresa May was "making a fool of herself" with a "counterproductive" speech; Russia's embassy reacted to the speech by posting a photograph of her from the Banquet drinking a glass of wine, with the tweet: "Dear Theresa, we hope, one day you will try Crimean #Massandra red wine".[101] Theresa May's Banquet speech was compared by some Russian commentators toWinston Churchill'sIron Curtain speech inFulton in March 1946;[102][103] it was hailed byAndrew Rosenthal in a front-page article run byThe New York Times that contrasted May's message against some statements about Putin made by Donald Trump, who, according to Rosenthal, "far from denouncing Putin's continuous assaults on human rights and free speech in Russia, [...] praised [Putin] as being a better leader than Barack Obama|Obama."[104]
In December 2017,Boris Johnson became the firstUK foreign secretary to visit Russia in five years. Johnson said that UK-Russia relations were "not on a good footing" but he "wanted them to improve", after talks in Moscow. Russia's foreign ministerSergei Lavrov accused the UK of making "insulting" statements ahead of the meeting, adding that it was "no secret that Britain's relations with Russia were at a 'low point'", but said he "trusted Mr Johnson" and the two countries had agreed on the need to work together on theUN Security Council.[105]
In March 2018, as a result of thepoisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal inSalisbury, relations between the countries deteriorated still further, both countries expelling 23 diplomats each and takingother punitive measures against one another. Within days of the incident, the UK government's assessment that it was "highly likely" that the Russian state was responsible for the incident received the backing of the EU, the US, and Britain's other allies.[106][107][108][109] In what the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called the "extraordinary international response" on the part of the UK's allies, on 26 and 27 March 2018 there followed a concerted action by the U.S., most of the EU member states,Albania,Australia,Canada,Macedonia,Moldova, andNorway, as well as NATO to expel a total of over 140 Russian accredited diplomats (including those expelled by the UK).[110][111]
Additionally, in July 2018, the COBR committee were assembled following a poisoning of two other British citizens in the town ofAmesbury, not far fromSalisbury, the location of the Skripals' poisoning. It was later confirmed byPorton Down that the substance was aNovichok agent.Sajid Javid, the United Kingdom's home secretary insisted in the house of commons that he was letting the investigation teams conduct a full investigation into what had happened before jumping to a major conclusion. He then re-iterated the initial question to Russia regarding the Novichok agent, accusing them of using the United Kingdom as a 'dumping ground'.[112]
In his speech at theRUSI Land Warfare Conference in June 2018, theChief of the General StaffMark Carleton-Smith said that British troops should be prepared to "fight and win" against the "imminent" threat of hostileRussia.[113][114] Carleton-Smith said: "The misplaced perception that there is no imminent or existential threat to the UK – and that even if there was it could only arise at long notice – is wrong, along with a flawed belief that conventional hardware and mass are irrelevant in countering Russian subversion...".[114][115] In a November 2018 interview with theDaily Telegraph, Carleton-Smith said that "Russia today indisputably represents a far greater threat to our national security than Islamic extremist threats such asal-Qaeda andISIL. ... We cannot be complacent about the threat Russia poses or leave it uncontested."[116]
Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson's victory in the2019 United Kingdom general election received a mixed response from Russia. Press SecretaryDmitry Peskov questioned "how appropriate ... hopes are in the case of the Conservatives" of good relations following the election.[117] However, Putin praised Johnson, stating that "he felt the mood of British society better than his opponents".[118]
In March 2020, the British government declared Russia the most "acute" threat to UK security in theIntegrated Review, which defines the government's foreign, defence, security and international development policies.[119]
In June 2021, a confrontation occurred betweenHMS Defender (D36) and theRussian Armed Forces in the2021 Black Sea incident.[120]
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In response to theRussian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 the UK government applied economic sanctions on Russian banks and individual citizens and bannedAeroflot aeroplanes from entering British airspace, in retaliation the Russian government banned British aeroplanes from entering Russian airspace.[121]
Britain also supplied the Ukrainians with military equipment; most notably sendingNLAW missiles to Ukraine, commencing in January 2022 in anticipation of the Russian invasion.[122] As of 16 March 2022, the UK confirmed that it had delivered more than 4,000 NLAWs to Ukraine.[123] In addition the UK commenced supplying Ukraine withStarstreak missiles (HVM) to help prevent Russian air supremacy. British soldiers were sent via Poland to help train Ukrainian forces.[124][125] These were sent as an interim measure until the arrival of theSky Sabre missile defence system.[126]
On 26 February 2022, Britain and its partners took "decisive action" to block Russia's banks' access to theSWIFT international payment system, according to British prime minister Boris Johnson.[127]
On 5 March 2022, Britain again issued statements condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine, and also urged its citizens to consider leaving the country. "If your presence in Russia is not essential, we strongly advise that you consider leaving by remaining commercial routes," announced the British government in a statement.[128] On 11 March 2022, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on 386 members of Russia's lower house of parliament and announced that it would attempt to prohibit the export of luxury products to Russia in order to raise diplomatic pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.[129] On 12 March 2022, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany cautioned Russia that its demands for economic guarantees with Iran could jeopardize an almost-completed nuclear deal.[130] On 17 March 2022, the United Kingdom said it had "very, very strong evidence" of war crimes in Ukraine, and that Russian president Vladimir Putin was orchestrating them.[131]
On 24 March 2022, theKremlin declared Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the most active anti-Russian leader. Downing Street rejected these claims and stated that the Prime Minister was "anti-Putin" and had no issue with the Russian people.[133]
On 3 May 2022, Russia aired a segment titledThe Sinkable Island. During the segment, hosted byDmitry Kiselyov, a simulation showing a hypothetical nuclear attack onGreat Britain was shown.[134] On 8 May 2022, British prime minister Boris Johnson's office stated that G7 leaders agreed that the world should increase economic pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin in whatever manner feasible.[135]
Besides supplying lethal aid to Ukraine, the UK has stated intent to mobilise for the possible event of direct involvement in a broader conflict with Russia as announced byGeneral Sir Patrick Sanders on 28 June 2022 in what was known as Operation Mobilise.[136][137] In July 2022, the UK sanctioned its own citizen, journalistGraham Phillips, who had been reporting from the Russian side, for his work which "supports and promotes actions and policies which destabilise Ukraine and undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, or independence of Ukraine."[138]
On 29 September 2022, a RussianSu-27 fighter "released" a missile in the vicinity of a Royal Air ForceBoeing RC-135 Rivet Joint which was carrying out a routine patrol over the Black Sea. Both the UK and Russia agreed that it was due to a technical malfunction, rather than a deliberate escalation. Patrols were temporarily suspended by the RAF following the incident but later resumed with fighter escorts.[139]
On 29 October 2022, Russia accused the UK of involvement in the2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, which it claimed were carried out by the Royal Navy, in addition to involvement in the drone strikes on theSevastopol Naval Base. The UK Ministry of Defence released a statement denouncing the claims and stated that Russia was "peddling lies on an epic scale".[7] Earlier in the month, Russia had also accused the UK of involvement in theCrimean Bridge explosion.[6]
The appointment ofRishi Sunak as UK prime minister in October 2022 did not change the UK's anti-Russian position, and policies. In May 2023 at the annualG7 summit, inTokyo, Sunak stepped up sanctions on Russia, banning the import of Russian diamonds, along with Russian-origin copper, aluminium and nickel, as he redoubled UK support for Ukraine. The UK also sanctioned a further 86 Russian individuals and companies.[140]
In July 2024, British prime ministerKeir Starmer gave Ukraine permission tostrike targets inside Russia with British-suppliedStorm Shadow missiles.[141]
On 24 February 2025, the U.K. unveiled new sanctions against Russia to mark the third anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.[142]
In June 2010, UK intelligence officials were saying that Russian spying activity in the UK was back at the Cold War level and thatMI5 had been for a few years building up its counter-espionage capabilities against Russians; it was also noted that Russia's focus was "largely directed on expatriates."[143] In mid-August 2010, SirStephen Lander, Director-General ofMI5 (1996–2002), said this of the level of Russian intelligence's activity in the UK: "If you go back to the early 90s, there was a hiatus. Then the spying machine got going again and theSVR [formerly the KGB], they've gone back to their old practices with a vengeance. I think by the end of the last century they were back to where they had been in the Cold War, in terms of numbers."[144]
Directing non-domestic policy within overseas intelligence is a key but not a sole purpose of such information, its capability based on the information it can act on needs to be understood on its own. Separating its own capability from that gained from intelligence outsourcing and thus serves its purpose as explained.
In January 2012,Jonathan Powell, prime ministerTony Blair'schief of staff in 2006, admitted Britain was behind a plot to spy on Russia with a device hidden in a fake rock that was discovered in 2006 in a case that was publicised by Russian authorities; he said: "Clearly they had known about it for some time and had been saving it up for a political purpose."[145][146] Back in 2006, the Russian security service, the FSB, linked the rock case to British intelligence agents making covert payments to NGOs in Russia; shortly afterwards, president Vladimir Putin introduced a law thattightened regulation of funding non-governmental organisations in Russia.[147]
TheEmbassy of Russia is located inLondon, United Kingdom. TheEmbassy of the United Kingdom is located inMoscow, Russia.
Outside Moscow, there is one BritishConsulate-General inYekaterinburg. There was aBritish Consulate General inSt. Petersburg but it was closed in 2018 due to a diplomatic fallout following theSkripals affair.[148] There is a Russian Consulate General in Edinburgh.
(Anglo-Russians,Scottish Russians andIrish Russians)
The Kremlin has reacted angrily to the expulsion of Russian diplomats by Britain and its allies, starting tit-for-tat expulsions.
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