Monitor ISSUE 32
Russia and China react to UK election result New UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s most pressing foreign policy problems look like being how to deal with Putin’s Russia and Xi’s China, Alistair Coleman reports.
Russian media expects no change
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But there are already clues as to how Moscow and Beijing through their state-controlled media see a Starmer administration from their initial reactions to the election.
Russian TV pundits on the day after the election seemed to rejoice at the Conservative defeat, but did not expect London’s “Russophobic course” to change under Labour. Russia’s main TV channels said the result was a “miserable failure” for the Conservative party, saying that Brexit had been its only achievement in the 14 years of its rule.
TV pundits also dwelled on one of their pet subjects – that Russia is eternally the victim of nefarious British plots. On state-controlled Channel One, the election campaign was framed as Russia being a scapegoat. “This election, like politics in general in Britain in recent years, just can’t manage without an enemy figure in the form of Russia,” Channel One said.
The Russian media do not expect change in the UK’s policies towards Moscow
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Both Russia’s President Putin and China’s President Xi are looking to increase their global influence and the Labour government was quick to make its intentions clear regarding engagement with allies over threats from the East.