Russia 'dismisses' UK amid tensions over Syria
Russia has dismissed Britain as a “small island" that nobody pays any attention to apart from oligarchs who have bought Chelsea, according to reports.
The slur is said to have been made during the G20 summit of world leaders in Russia.
Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is hosting the meeting, has clashed with Western leaders who accuse the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad of using chemical weapons against his own people.
And according to a report by the Daily Mirror, a spokesman for Mr Putin said: “Britain is a small island – nobody pays any attention to them apart from the Russian oligarchs who have bought up Chelsea.".
It was unclear if the slur referred to rich Russians buying property in the exclusive area of London or Roman Abramovich buying Chelsea football club - or possibly both.
Mr Cameron, who has faced suggestions that he has been sidelined at the summit, said: “I don’t accept that for a moment.
"It’s right to make a stand on chemical weapons, it’s right to take that to Parliament, it’s right to respect Parliament.”
The prime minister was forced to rule out British involvement in any strike against Assad after a shock defeat on the issue in parliament.
He also insisted Britain would lead the argument internationally to respond strongly on chemical weapons - and said the UK had further evidence of the use of chemical weapons - reportedly sarin gas - in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
According to the Daily Mirror, Mr Putin’s press secretary Dmitri Peskov denied he was the source of the comments.
Click or swipe through to see more images
Tensions: Russian president Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Barack Obama
It might have been a case of smiling for the cameras, but US-Russian relations are tense because their presidents have disagreed over what to do about the Syrian civil war. In this picture, US president Barack Obama can be seen being welcomed by his Russian counterpart to the G20 summit at the Constantine Palace in Strelna near St. Petersburg. The starched, business-like exchange lasted less than 20 seconds.
Britain's David Cameron sits next to German's Angela Merkel
David Cameron has vowed to do more to help Syrian refugees, but is not expected to have a formal bilateral meeting with Barack Obama. The developments come as British scientists at Porton Down have found positive evidence of deadly sarin gas on samples of cloth and soil from the Damascus suburb believed to have been targeted by forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar Assad.
French President Francois Hollande and Chinese leader Xi Jinping
France's leaders have promised to join any international military action aimed at punishing the Assad regime over its reported use of chemical weapons.
Barack Obama looks grim-faced
The White House has insisted the paths of Mr Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin would cross at various meetings. But Mr Obama is not planning to hold any one-on-one meetings with the Russian leader during the G20 summit.
Russian president Vladimir Putin addresses world leaders
Syria is not formally on the agenda for the economy-focused summit, but the Syrian civil war is on the international agenda.
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan
Russia says that the US should wait for the report of UN inspectors who investigated a chemical attack in Syria before intervening militarily.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
This gives rise to my new phrase,
"Butt out Britain"
he's never been a statesman...although I can't find any politician out of our lot that fits the bill..shower of sh*te the lot of them.
I watched Putin greeting Obama and Cameron, and he looks like a Bond villain, who would smile at you whilst slipping the knife in your back. Thank goodness they are not the superpower they once were, to me he has all the makings of another Hitler.
I watched Putin greeting Obama and Cameron, and he looks like a Bond villain, who would smile at you whilst slipping the knife in your back. Thank goodness they are not the superpower they once were, to me he has all the makings of another Hitler.
Putin did serve in the KGB.
I belong to the small faction who, rather than encourage the rag tag bunch of rebels, would have let Assad stay in power. Often people like Assad, as Sadman Hussein was, are the solution, and not the problem.
It's too late for that now.
I don't know a single person who wanted to attack him and Cameron has had to go along with this in a democratic way.
Meanwhile Putin is becoming a throwback. One could perhaps accept criticism from the world's civilised powers, both Scandanavian, and North European, Canada too. But backward deadwood shieght like Putin? I don't think so.
(I'm in a bit of a rush-but that's it in a nutshell)
I watched Putin greeting Obama and Cameron, and he looks like a Bond villain, who would smile at you whilst slipping the knife in your back. Thank goodness they are not the superpower they once were, to me he has all the makings of another Hitler.
Putin did serve in the KGB.
And he looks it, quite chilling watching that clip. Of course both Obama and Cameron tower above him - Napoleon complex?
I watched Putin greeting Obama and Cameron, and he looks like a Bond villain, who would smile at you whilst slipping the knife in your back. Thank goodness they are not the superpower they once were, to me he has all the makings of another Hitler.
Putin did serve in the KGB.
And he looks it, quite chilling watching that clip. Of course both Obama and Cameron tower above him - Napoleon complex?
Very true ...whatever the failings of Obama and Cameron I know which I would choose any day.
UK is providing £52m to Syria in aid. The second highest of any country.
I belong to the small faction who, rather than encourage the rag tag bunch of rebels, would have let Assad stay in power. Often people like Assad, as Sadman Hussein was, are the solution, and not the problem.
It's too late for that now.
I don't know a single person who wanted to attack him and Cameron has had to go along with this in a democratic way.
Meanwhile Putin is becoming a throwback. One could perhaps accept criticism from the world's civilised powers, both Scandanavian, and North European, Canada too. But backward deadwood shieght like Putin? I don't think so.
(I'm in a bit of a rush-but that's it in a nutshell)
Couldn't agree more.
I think it was the rebels who were the ones who committed the chemical attack on those innocent people.
I actually think we are a prouder country for staying out of this Syrian conflict...so I don't know why the Russians are being idiots about this, they should be happy we are out.
There are no good guys only bad and worse ones in this conflict. Our business is to stay well out of it and for Cameron, Millipede et al to stop trying to create a legacy and STFU
I actually think we are a prouder country for staying out of this Syrian conflict...so I don't know why the Russians are being idiots about this, they should be happy we are out.
I was watching the C4 news and one of their guests made an interesting comment that the Russians are just chippy over the fact that the UK has got over the loss of its imperial power, while they still haven't.
The thing is that recent events have clearly proven the Russian spokesman wrong. The whole world has paid extremely close attention to the UK over Syria, and the Commons vote has become the defining moment in the international response to the crisis - just not in the way Cameron intended...
I actually think we are a prouder country for staying out of this Syrian conflict...so I don't know why the Russians are being idiots about this, they should be happy we are out.
I was watching the C4 news and one of their guests made an interesting comment that the Russians are just chippy over the fact that the UK has got over the loss of its imperial power, while they still haven't.
The thing is that recent events have clearly proven the Russian spokesman wrong. The whole world has paid extremely close attention to the UK over Syria, and the Commons vote has become the defining moment in the international response to the crisis - just not in the way Cameron intended...
Totally agree.
If the Commons vote went in favour of going into Syria by now we and the U.S would already be bombing the crap out of the place.
Its that we think we should bomb the arse out of a country before the UN have given a definitive decision about the use of chemical weapons that makes Russia's slap down quite satisfying
Its that we think we should bomb the arse out of a country before the UN have given a definitive decision about the use of chemical weapons that makes Russia's slap down quite satisfying
But we didn't, and I think this thread title is disrespectful to our PM, I would always take the side of our PM over a Russian Official who insulted our country...Cameron's response was brilliant, he gave the reasons as to why we are a great country.
We missed the time slot when it would actually have made some slight sense, when the opposition was clear cut and not al-quaida (sp). Too late now.
Its that we think we should bomb the arse out of a country before the UN have given a definitive decision about the use of chemical weapons that makes Russia's slap down quite satisfying
As Vids says, the point is that "we" didn't think we should attack Syria without UN approval. And lets be under no illusions that Russia is opposed to attacking Syria out of concern for legality or humanitarianism: the reason they're opposed to UN intervention is because Syria is a long-standing ally, the site of their only Mediterranean naval base and the 7th largest customer of Russian weaponry...
Putin really is a tosser - a Tory MP on twitter.
Putin really is a tosser - a Tory MP on twitter.
It takes one to know one!
he he, if only it were true! The UK is the fourth largest spender on 'defence' in the world. It actually spends more on defence than Russia. Despite spending such a huge sum on its defence - which you'd think should guarantee it independence - it is not much more than a puppet state of the US. Incredibly, we 'won' WW2, yet had American Air Force bases on our soil (just like West Germany - but hold on, they were the losers in the war!) and have to get American approval if we want use our nuclear weapons.
I think it's fair to say that the outcome of the war implied America and Russia won the war, with the UK just getting screwed over!
Its that we think we should bomb the arse out of a country before the UN have given a definitive decision about the use of chemical weapons that makes Russia's slap down quite satisfying
As Vids says, the point is that "we" didn't think we should attack Syria without UN approval. And lets be under no illusions that Russia is opposed to attacking Syria out of concern for legality or humanitarianism: the reason they're opposed to UN intervention is because Syria is a long-standing ally, the site of their only Mediterranean naval base and the 7th largest customer of Russian weaponry...
It was the Goverments desire to go ahead, no?
Until it was defeated in a vote.
It feels like the UK is the snotty little kid hiding behind a bully and shaking its fist at the people being kicked, saying,
"Yeah take that cos yer didn't behave"
Its that we think we should bomb the arse out of a country before the UN have given a definitive decision about the use of chemical weapons that makes Russia's slap down quite satisfying
As Vids says, the point is that "we" didn't think we should attack Syria without UN approval. And lets be under no illusions that Russia is opposed to attacking Syria out of concern for legality or humanitarianism: the reason they're opposed to UN intervention is because Syria is a long-standing ally, the site of their only Mediterranean naval base and the 7th largest customer of Russian weaponry...
It was the Goverments desire to go ahead, no?
Until it was defeated in a vote.
But public opinion (as expressed through Parliament) was opposed to it, and ultimately Cameron couldn't do anything without that support. The Government may have wanted to "bomb the arse out of" Syria, but "we" (i.e. the Nation as a whole) didn't.
You can see the Commons vote as a defeat for Cameron (and I certainly think he handled it and the Labour ammendment very badly), but you can also see it as a victory for the UK's parliamentary democracy, and that's how many abroad have seen it too. It's not just the fact that the vote was defeated, but the act of defeating it - together with the fact that the Prime Minister has to obey the will of Parliament - that has influenced the Syrian debate around the world, American polticians opposed to intervention have been emboldened; French politicians have compared their debate to that in the UK and demanded more time; and it's put into contrast the fact that Putin isn't subjected to the same degrees of checks and balances...
And yet the Russians claim no one pays any attention to us...
Its that we think we should bomb the arse out of a country before the UN have given a definitive decision about the use of chemical weapons that makes Russia's slap down quite satisfying
As Vids says, the point is that "we" didn't think we should attack Syria without UN approval. And lets be under no illusions that Russia is opposed to attacking Syria out of concern for legality or humanitarianism: the reason they're opposed to UN intervention is because Syria is a long-standing ally, the site of their only Mediterranean naval base and the 7th largest customer of Russian weaponry...
It was the Goverments desire to go ahead, no?
Until it was defeated in a vote.
But public opinion (as expressed through Parliament) was opposed to it, and ultimately Cameron couldn't do anything without that support. The Government may have wanted to "bomb the arse out of" Syria, but "we" (i.e. the Nation as a whole) didn't.
You can see the Commons vote as a defeat for Cameron (and I certainly think he handled it and the Labour ammendment very badly), but you can also see it as a victory for the UK's parliamentary democracy, and that's how many abroad have seen it too. It's not just the fact that the vote was defeated, but the act of defeating it - together with the fact that the Prime Minister has to obey the will of Parliament - that has influenced the Syrian debate around the world, American polticians opposed to intervention have been emboldened; French politicians have compared their debate to that in the UK and demanded more time; and it's put into contrast the fact that Putin isn't subjected to the same degrees of checks and balances...
And yet the Russians claim no one pays any attention to us...
very good points Eugene! Totally agree! As you say, our standing is heightened rather than being America's poodle.