UK-Russia relations: Crisis or melodrama?
Ever since Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the UK city of Salisbury on March 4, thought to be poisoned with a nerve agent of a type developed by Russia, very public political posturing and inflammatory exchanges between Westminster and the Kremlin have played out like the opening scenes of a mediocre Cold War-era espionage movie.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May made it clear she believed Moscow to be "culpable," while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said "our quarrel is with Putin's Kremlin." Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to the UK government's accusations as a "shocking and inexcusable breach of diplomatic propriety."
May announced 23 Russian diplomats will be expelled from the UK as part of a "full and robust" response. The move was countered by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov subsequently expelling British diplomats from Russia.
Caught up in the rhetoric?
In spite of the bold statements and brash expulsions, so far the rhetoric has remained largely that. But what of the impact on the Russian community on British soil? Do they believe a second cold war is brewing between the countries, with potentially far reaching consequences for those of Russian heritage in the UK, from the business elite to young professionals? Or are Russians here dismissive of recent developments as melodrama yet to subside?
Dr. Peter Duncan, Senior Lecturer in Russian Politics and Society at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, believes steps taken so far constitute a weak response from Theresa May, masked by tough rhetoric. He points out that to date, Britain has been very reluctant to take action against Russia in economic terms, for example by following through with a serious inquiry into the ownership of property in London: "Actions from the UK government have come far too late. The UK should have followed the US sanctions which targeted those close to Putin in terms of whether they can go to the US and freezing their assets."
He draws an important distinction between the majority of Russians in the UK, here to seek a better life but not in any way involved in politics, and those of the wealthy elite, "who stole things in the 1990s and then fell foul of Putin and are now living in London. And those who have been involved or accused of being involved in criminal acts inside Russia and have now taken refugee under political asylum — those people have got something to worry about." But he stresses that ordinary Russians should not get caught in the crossfire of political maneuvering: "What we don't want to do is to alienate the Russian people. The ordinary Russian people here in Britain and in Russia are even more the victims of all this."
http://www.dw.com/en/uk-russia-relations-crisis-or-melodrama/a-43015477
From Deutsche Welle, the German equivalent of Voice of America.