By IANS,
London : Britain “looks forward to working with the Russian government” on improving bilateral ties, following Vladimir Putin’s win in the presidential election, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said.
“It is in Britain’s interests to develop a stronger and deeper partnership with Russia, by addressing the obstacles in the relationship so that we can extend our political and trade engagement,” Xinhua quoted Hague as saying Tuesday.
He also raised the issue of the fairness of the election and called for a thorough investigation of “all allegations of electoral violations”.
Prime Minister David Cameron has spoken to Putin, a Downing Street spokesman said.
“The prime minister said that he had been following the Russian elections closely. He looked forward to working with Mr. Putin to overcome the obstacles in the relationship between Britain and Russia and build deeper political and trade links,” A Downing Street the spokesman said.
The two leaders “agreed on the importance of building a stronger relationship, without disguising differences and areas of concern”, he said.
“The prime minister and Mr. Putin also discussed Syria and the need for united international action to bring an end to the violence and prevent the situation deteriorating into civil war,” the spokesman added.