OREANDA-NEWS. Maintaining normal relations with Great Britain is one of the important tasks of Russia's foreign policy, but Moscow is interested in this as much as London wants it to. This was stated by Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Great Britain Alexander Yakovenko in an interview with the Russian television channel.

"We will continue to work with the British, but on a very pragmatic basis. Because the main task of Russian diplomacy today is to create the most favorable conditions for the development of our country. Britain is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and an important trading partner for us", said the diplomat,- “Naturally, maintaining normal relations with this country is one of the elements of our foreign policy, but we need it no more than the British”.

Yakovenko noted the huge influence of the United States on British foreign policy. According to him, London "follows in the wake of Washington on almost all issues", but the country nevertheless has its own national interests.

“We know how they voted, for example in parliament, when the Americans wanted to strike Syria and the British did not support it. They proceeded from their national interests. Let's hope that the UK will follow its national interests and somewhere, so to speak, differ slightly in their policies from what Washington dictates to them", the ambassador summed up.

Commenting on a recent statement by Scotland Yard, which announced that it didn't have the necessary evidence to charge the Russian leadership with an alleged attempt to assassinate the Skripals in Salisbury, Yakovenko expressed the opinion that "the people who are conducting the investigation are conducting yourself a little more honestly". "And indeed, they must work with concrete facts. There are no facts about Russia's involvement in this incident. We are still waiting for an official report from the UK", the diplomat said.