The Russian government has confirmed that President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Queen’s state funeral amid the estranged relationship between Russia and the West.
A Kremlin spokesman said a decision will be made on who will represent Russia at the service which is expected to take place on September 19 at Westminster Abbey.
Yesterday, Putin paid tribute to the monarch despite the his aggression in Ukraine which has caused relations between Russia and Britain to plummet to their lowest levels since the Cold War.
The leader said: ‘The most important events in the recent history of the United Kingdom are inextricably linked with the name of Her Majesty.
‘For many decades, Elizabeth II rightfully enjoyed the love and respect of her subjects, as well as authority on the world stage.
‘I wish you courage and perseverance in the face of this heavy, irreparable loss. I ask you to convey the words of sincere sympathy and support to the members of the royal family and all the people of Great Britain.’
Meanwhile, a top Putin media chief has acted to block coverage of the Queen’s death on her Kremlin broadcasting network. Margarita Simonyan, head of sanctioned RT, posted on her Telegram channel: ‘Enough Queen news already, team.
‘So she died. Well, RIP. We all die. This is not our pain.’
US President, Joe Biden has labelled Russian president Vladimir Putin, a ‘killer’ and promised that the Kremlim will “pay a price” for interfering in the 2020 U.S. elections.
Since Biden took over the White House in January 2021, he has pledged to take a hard line against the Kremlin, which has a history of attempting to assassinate and imprison dissidents and political opponents.
The U.S. intelligence community released a report on Tuesday March 16, assessing that Putin authorized election influence operations aimed at denigrating Biden’s candidacy, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the election and sowing divisions.
The U.S. also sanctioned seven senior Russian officials earlier this month over the poisoning and jailing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who is currently serving out a sentence in a remote Russian labor camp.
In a Wednesday, March 17 interview with ABC Wednesday Biden said that he believes Vladimir Putin is a “killer,” while asding that it’s possible to “walk and chew gum at the same time for places where it’s in our mutual interest to to work together” — addressing his decision to extend the New START nuclear arms control pact earlier this year.
When asked how the U.S. should respond to Russia’s election interference, Biden said.
“He will pay a price. We had a long talk, he and I. I know him relatively well and the conversation started off, I said, ‘I know you and you know me. If I establish this occurred then be prepared,’
Joe Biden & Vladimir Putin
Referencing President George W. Bush’s famous comments about getting a “sense” of Putin’s “soul,” Biden told ABC: “I said, ‘I looked in your eyes and I don’t think you have a soul.’ He looked back and said we understand each other.”
“Look, the most important thing in dealing with foreign leaders in my experience, and I’ve dealt with an awful lot of them in my career, is just know the other guy.”
Recall in a 2017 interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, former US leader Trump said that he has “respect” for Putin and asserted that the US was guilty when it comes to killing.
O’Reilly said “Putin is a killer,” to which Trump responded: “There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers. Well, you think our country is so innocent?”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that will grant former presidents lifetime immunity from prosecution for crimes once they leave office.
The bill, which was published online on Tuesday, December 22, gives former presidents and their families immunity from prosecution for crimes committed during their lifetime.
They will also be exempted from questioning by police or investigators, as well as searches or arrests.
The legislation was part of constitutional amendments that were approved this summer in a nationwide vote that allowed Putin to remain president until 2036 as he would have had to step down in 2024.
Vladimir Putin
Prior to the bill becoming law, former presidents were immune from prosecution only for crimes committed while in office.
It was also noted that a former president can still be stripped of immunity if accused of treason or other grave crimes, and the charges confirmed by the Supreme and Constitutional courts.
They will additionally grant former presidents a lifetime seat in the Federation Council or senate, a position that assures immunity from prosecution upon leaving the presidency.
image captionRelations between Washington and Moscow were frosty when Vice-President Biden met President Putin in 2011
With Joe Biden projected to win the US presidential elections on Saturday, many world leaders hastened to congratulate him on his victory.
But not everyone has been so keen – in fact some have been conspicuous in their absence. Here are some key international figures who have not sent messages of support or who have appeared lukewarm in their congratulations.
Some have gone even further, congratulating Mr Trump or backing unsubstantiated claims he has made about voter fraud. At least one minister has paid for his remarks with his job.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Four years ago Mr Putin was among the first to congratulate Donald Trump on his election victory, but there has been no tweet, telegram or phone call to Mr Biden this time.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the reason for the delay was the legal challenges being launched by the Trump campaign.
“We believe the correct thing to do would be to wait for the official election result,” he told reporters.
But the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says there is a suspicion that the lack of congratulations reflects the fact that Moscow is not excited by the outcome.
Mr Biden is a vocal critic of Moscow and recently identified Russia as the biggest threat to America.
Mr Trump has rarely criticised Russia or Mr Putin, and Russia was accused of interfering in the 2016 election to get Mr Trump elected.
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa
image captionMr Jansa has shown support for Mr Trump in the past
Since then he has repeated allegations of voter fraud carried out by Democrats.
On Saturday, he appeared more conciliatory, describing the US as Slovenia’s strategic partner and said that friendly relations would remain whoever was president.
But he has still not offered any congratulations to Mr Biden.
Mr Jansa, from the far-right anti-immigration Slovenian Democratic Party, is an ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has also expressed support for Mr Trump in the past.
Mr Trump’s wife Melania is Slovenian.
Other Slovenian leaders, including President Borut Pahor, have congratulated Mr Biden, as has Mr Orban.
Estonian Interior Minister Mart Helme
Mr Helme announced his resignation on Monday after he and his son, Finance Minister Martin Helme, made allegations about widespread fraud in the US election on a radio talk show on Sunday.
Mr Helme senior also repeated unsubstantiated corruption allegations against Mr Biden and his son Hunter.
His son said that “all normal people should speak up” about the alleged falsifications.
“There is no point in talking about any kind of democracy or the rule of law if elections can be so rudely, so blatantly and massively rigged,” he added.
Both are members of the far-right Conservative People’s Party, of which Mr Helme junior is also the leader. The party is in a coalition with the Centre Party and another right-wing party,
Prime Minister Juri Ratas has criticised the two politicians, and has congratulated Mr Biden.
But he stopped short of sacking them, critics argue, because he relies on their party’s support to stay in power.
Mr Helme senior said he was resigning because of the “slander” he was facing in the Estonian media.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
Mr Bolsonaro is often considered to be an ally of Mr Trump, so much so that he has been described as the “Trump of the Tropics”.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.36.2/iframe.htmlmedia captionJair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump swap football shirts in the Oval Office
The Brazilian leader’s failure so far to congratulate Mr Biden, therefore, comes as no surprise.
He has crossed swords with the former vice-president in the past, describing his call during an election debate for the US to push Brazil to protect the Amazon rainforest better as “disastrous and unnecessary”.
Brazilian media reports quoting government sources suggested Mr Bolsonaro planned to wait until Mr Trump’s legal challenges were completed before addressing the issue.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
image captionMr Netanyahu said Joe Biden was a big friend of Israel
Mr Netanyahu is another world leader who has never hidden his affinity for Mr Trump.
And while he congratulated Mr Biden, observers have noted the absence of the words “president-elect” and “vice-president-elect” in his message.
“”I would like to open with greetings to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. For almost 40 years I have had a personal, long and warm relationship with Joe Biden and I know him as a big friend of the state of Israel,” he said in a video statement.
Mr Netanyahu concluded the message by paying tribute to Mr Trump for his friendship towards Israel and him personally, and thanking him for recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, overturning decades of US policy, and for his hard-line stance on Iran.
Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
The Saudi crown prince has congratulated Mr Biden on his election victory – but only on Sunday, 24 hours after the news broke. Other Middle Eastern leaders responded on Saturday.
It was pointed out that Mohammed bin Salman had wasted no time in congratulating Tanzanian President John Magafuli on his re-election that day.
Mr Biden has vowed to reassess relations with Saudi Arabia, in particular over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the civil war in Yemen.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
President Xi sent congratulations to Mr Trump in 2016 the day after his poll victory.
But this time China has so far held off on giving any reaction to the US election results.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin noted Mr Biden’s declaration of victory in a briefing on Monday, but said Beijing would watch while “US law and procedures” were followed.
Mr Biden is expected to be more measured and nuanced in his approach to China while maintaining a tough stance.
Mr Trump has sharply criticised China over coronavirus and became involved in a trade war, imposing tariffs on numerous Chinese imports.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
There has been no response to the election result from Mr Kim, indeed as of Monday morning North Korean state media outlets have been silent on the US elections.
However, no mention was made of Donald Trump’s 2016 victory until two days after his election.
Mr Trump and Mr Kim have had a stormy relationship, though they have maintained contact through three historical face-to-face meetings.
Mr Biden, though, has described Mr Kim as a thug and says he is not interested in any personal diplomacy with him. The North Korean leader has called Mr Biden “a fool of low IQ”.
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