During a Monday ceremony, Russian President Vladimir Putin complained of the estranged ties his country currently has with some Western nations.
The comments occurred at the Kremlin as Putin accepted the credentials of 21 new ambassadors, including envoys from the United Kingdom and Germany.
The U.K. and Germany have been two of the biggest supporters of Ukraine during the war that Putin launched in February 2022. Moscow's relations with the nations have deteriorated as a result, and officials from the two Western countries are frequently targets of scorn by Kremlin-approved state media. Along with providing aid to Kyiv, Western allies also placed harsh economic sanctions on Russia as punishment for its invasion, a fact referenced by Putin during Monday's event.
"The times are not easy," he said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Russian leader directly addressed Britain's ambassador Nigel Casey.
"In the post-war [WWII] period and until recently, our countries were able to build relations. But the current state of things...is well known and we should hope that the situation—in the interest of our countries and nations—will change for the better," Putin said.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
Turning his attention to German ambassador Alexander Lambsdorff, Putin then spoke about Berlin importing less energy resources from Russia.
"For over half a century, we were able with Germany to develop a pragmatic business approach that was comfortable for both our countries and the whole European continent," Putin said, according to AFP. "Our country without fail supplied Germany with ecologically clean gas."
Putin added that cooperation between his country and Germany had been halted due to the September 2022 blasts on the Nord Stream pipelines that transferred Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. In the past, Russia has blamed the United States, the United Kingdom and Ukraine for the Nord Stream incident. The three countries, meanwhile, have denied any involvement.
"This partnership was literally blown up by the explosion of the gas pipe," Putin said.
Elsewhere in his comments at the ceremony, he acknowledged recent relations with Sweden, which is preparing to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), have been unstable. He also noted that ties between Russia and South Korea "are unfortunately going through not the best period."
One of the major rifts with South Korea is Russia's deepening partnership with North Korea. In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Moscow and held a one-on-one meeting with Putin. Western officials have warned that North Korea and Russia could be negotiating the supply of weapons for use by Putin's military in Ukraine.
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Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more
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