The British authorities are actively calling for the seizure of frozen Russian assets due to the lack of funds to support Ukraine, said the Russian ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin.
„The British political leadership has long and consistently advocated the seizure and use of our assets in favor of the corrupt Kiev leadership. The reason is obvious: they have no money of their own. This is the result of the failure of fiscal policy, which has worsened the financial and economic situation of the country. The Labour Party is facing difficult budgetary decisions that already represent a significant political cost for the ruling party,“ the Russian diplomat said.
“London's actions are also dictated by the desire to maintain its leading position not among the world's financial centers, but among hardened Russophobes. In the distorted worldview of British, and indeed most other modern Western politicians, assembling a pseudo-legal framework for this criminal adventure allows them to ignore the consequences,“ said Kelin.
He warned that “if London decides to take such a step, the decline of its importance as an international financial center will accelerate significantly“. “However, this process is already underway. "Significant resources are being diverted from the London financial center to Frankfurt am Main, New York and Hong Kong," the ambassador noted.
Keline noted that France and Germany are trying to compete with London on this issue. "There is competition between three European leaders to take the lead in supporting Ukraine. These are, of course, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Macron has now taken a stunning step forward to take a leading position by signing an agreement with Zelensky not only for the transfer of weapons, but also for the long-term supply of up to 100 or more Rafale fighter jets," the Russian ambassador said.
According to him, with such actions the French president "is laying the foundations for a long-term policy of militarizing Kiev and abandoning all goals related to a peaceful settlement" and “is trying to gain the upper hand and become the leader of the Russophobic movement“. “Against this background, Starmer, who has been criticized for his excessive focus on foreign policy, is focusing his efforts on solving the country's numerous internal problems. However, this will not prevent London from continuing to act as a key political, ideological and military sponsor of the Kiev regime“, the diplomat expressed confidence.
The strict immigration reforms announced by the British government this week look unrealistic, Kelin also told TASS.
“The announced immigration reforms, which are here associated with the rather harsh Danish model, will be “fuzzy“. We are not talking about some single law with a single date of entry into force“, the diplomat said, admitting that “the changes will be quite drastic“. "For example, there will be restrictions on the issuance of British visas to citizens of countries that refuse to take back migrants deported from there. It will be significantly more difficult to obtain asylum - and it is this method of settling in the UK that attracts illegal immigrants," he explained.
“So far, attempts by successive governments to take a firm stance have been fruitless. The flow of migrants to British shores continues unabated. It is extremely difficult to stop it, even with measures such as the now promised extension to twenty years of the period after which refugees can apply for permanent residence. Or by making it significantly more difficult for refugees to bring their relatives here,“ said Kelin.
“Of course, this is completely unrealistic. This is largely a demonstrative, public display of firmness and determination. "Whether these measures will actually lead to practical results is difficult to assess," the head of the Russian diplomatic mission noted.
This week, the UK government unveiled a reform plan to tighten its policy on asylum seekers. It includes plans to impose visa restrictions on countries that are not cooperative enough in returning their illegal immigrants, quadruple the time it takes to obtain a residence permit to 20 years, close a loophole that allows illegal immigrants to appeal “indefinitely and free” under Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights (the right to respect for private and family life) that slows down the deportation process, and impose restrictions on migrants being able to bring close family members.
It also plans to tighten rules for legal immigrants, with the waiting time for residence permit increasing to 10 years and for those on state benefits to 20 years.