UK overtakes US as Russia’s top enemy, The Guardian reports

According to Ukrinform, The Guardian writes about this.

This week, to earlier accusations of planning drone strikes on Russian airfields, blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline, and directing “terrorist” raids on Russian territory, a new charge was added: Russian authorities claimed that British intelligence had tried and failed to lure Russian pilots into defecting to the west.

“The FSB [Russia’s Federal Security Service] exposed all this in great detail,” Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, told reporters in Moscow, describing what he called a British-backed plot to lure a Russian pilot flying a Kinzhal missile-equipped jet to Romania, where, he claimed, it would be shot down by NATO forces.

As the newspaper notes, since Russia is seeking to mend relations with Donald Trump’s administration, the United Kingdom has assumed the role once reserved for the United States — the Kremlin’s chief adversary.

“Russia regards itself as on a par with the United States. Now they can’t criticise Trump directly, so who do you blame for your woes – for the losses in Ukraine, for a million casualties? You blame the closest thing, the British. It’s easy to portray us as the root of all Russia’s problems,” said Captain John Foreman, the UK’s former defence attaché to Moscow.

This year, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) declared: “London today, like on the eve of both world wars, is acting as the main global warmonger”.

The Guardian notes that rivalry between Russia and the United Kingdom has deep historical roots, dating back to the 19th century, when imperial Russia and Britain competed for influence in Central Asia.

During the Cold War, the Kremlin viewed the threat from the UK as secondary to the primary confrontation between Moscow and Washington.

However, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has driven relations to a new low.

As reported by Ukrinform, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Neil Holland, stated that the “peace terms” Russia is proposing to end its war against Ukraine would, in fact, reward aggression, legitimize occupation, and grant the Kremlin veto power over Ukraine’s future.

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