Russia does not plan to rush the appointment of new ambassadors to the United Kingdom and France, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. Peskov said it could take some time before replacements are named.
On Friday, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree dismissing Andrei Kelin as Russia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. Kelin had served in London since 2019. A day earlier, Putin signed a similar decree dismissing Alexei Meshkov, who had been Russia’s ambassador to France since 2017.
Peskov linked the lack of urgency to Moscow’s relations with Paris and London. He said that, given the absence of bilateral relations, there was no practical need to hurry the appointments.
France and the United Kingdom have been among Ukraine’s strongest supporters since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. Relations between both countries and Moscow have deteriorated substantially since then. The Kremlin did not give a timetable for naming the new ambassadors.