Receiving new ambassadors, Vladimir Putin laments the state of relations between Russia and the West
During the ceremony of handing over the letters of credence of twenty-one ambassadors including those of Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Greece and Slovenia, Vladimir Putin regretted on Monday the deterioration of diplomatic relations between Moscow and the West, which followed the Russian attack on Ukraine and the establishment of sanctions against Moscow.
Before the Swedish representative, Vladimir Putin apologized for “the complete absence of political contacts” and a restriction “economic cooperation” and “cultural and humanitarian links” between Russia and Sweden. The Russian leader was also concerned about Stockholm’s abandonment of its “policy of non-participation in military blocs carried out for two hundred years”while Sweden has wanted to join NATO since the conflict in Ukraine.
With the German ambassador, he praised the relationship of “pragmatic cooperation” developed with Berlin, regretting that the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, in 2022, has “undermined” the delivery of Russian gas to Germany. “For decades, our country has supplied Germany with environmentally clean gas, oil and other energy products stably and flawlessly at affordable prices. And this cooperation was literally undermined, notably by an act of sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines”did he declare.
Receiving the new British ambassador, the Russian president limited himself to saying that the state of dialogue between Russia and the United Kingdom was ” know by everyone “, London being one of the most active supporters of kyiv against Moscow. “We will hope that the situation, in the interest of our two countries and our people, will evolve for the better”he commented.
The Russian president noted, with the new ambassador of Slovenia, that the bilateral dialogue between Moscow and Ljubljana had been ” stopped “ensuring that Russia is “ready” to relaunch it if the Slovenian side wished. With the new Greek ambassador, Mr. Putin felt that it was necessary ” to worry “ of the state of bilateral relations, while expressing hope that “traditional links” between Athens and Moscow would help “revive” their partnership.