Lavrov Says UK Explaining Domestic Problems by Russia's Alleged Meddling

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2018) The UK authorities decided to explain their internal problems by Russia's meddling, following the example of the US Democratic Party, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview published on Tuesday.

"Our UK colleagues, who began to destroy our relations, are not very committed to diplomatic decency now ... I have a strong impression that those in power in the United Kingdom have decided to vent their internal problems, starting with Brexit, on Russia, and to explain their internal problems with the intrigues of Russia," Lavrov told Euronews, adding that they followed suit of the US Democrats who were justifying their defeat in the presidential election by the fact that US President Donald Trump allegedly colluded with Russia.

He added that situations when domestic political "squabbles" affected relations between the world's leading states were regretful.

Lavrov also noted that after the Salisbury accident, the UK representatives demanded EU countries to join the sanctions against Moscow, having convinced many to expel Russian diplomats.

"It turns out that the country that is leaving the bloc is frantically trying to influence EU policy toward Russia, and maybe not only toward Russia, but also regarding [EU policy in] other issues of international life. The UK side really wants to keep the union on a short leash. And it is not up to me to judge to what extent this meets the interests and dignity of the European Union," he stressed.

Over the recent years, Russia has repeatedly been accused of carrying out cyberattacks against other countries, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, and attempting, in particular, to influence the results of elections.

Moscow has repeatedly refuted claims of having links to cyberattacks and of alleged attempts to meddle in other states' domestic affairs, noting that these claims were unfounded.