Who are the "friends of Russia" with?

The Society of Conservative Friends of Russia was founded three months ago with the aim of "maintaining a dialogue between the United Kingdom and Russia." Its Honorary President was the former Foreign Minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind, vice president-chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of Culture John Wittingdale. Both politicians were not seen earlier in pro -Russian statements.

The reception was attended by about 250 people, including members of the parliament from the conservative party, diplomats, journalists, businessmen. The Russian ambassador Alexander Yakovenko made a greeting. Vodka and champagne poured with a river, a lottery was held with prizes in the form of books about Putin. The reception almost coincided with the sentence of the Pussy Riot group, which caused the condemnation of the international community.

Reception raises the question of the relations of the Conservative Party with the Posoputin Party United Russia, writes the British newspaper Gardian. The newspaper quotes a member of the parliament from the Labor Party Denis Makshin, who called the adoption of “conservative friends of Russia” inviting an invitation to a party a few days after the sentence of Pussy Riot and in the situation of concern about the situation with human rights in Russia. “Putin’s,” said Makshin, “another committee of useful idiots has now appeared, as Lenin called the Western leftist supporters of the Soviet Union.”

The author of the article in "Gardian" Luke Harding in an interview with Radio Liberty comments on the behavior of members of the Society "Conservative Friends of Russia":

- I find their behavior somewhat strange, so I tried to find out who is behind the creation of this organization. I called Malcolm Rifkindu. He was not at this party, now he is on vacation in Scotland. He said that, in his opinion, it is important to maintain a dialogue with Russian official representatives. According to him, even during the Cold War, when he was a younger official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a dialogue with Soviet representatives was supported, and there were meetings with the Soviet ambassador to his residence. He said that this year he met at dinner with the current Russian ambassador Alexander Yakovenko and raised issues of observing human rights in Russia, mentioned the affairs of Khodorkovsky and Litvinenko. In his opinion, such dialogs are very useful.

However, I am very interested in who subsidizes the activities of the Society "Conservative Friends of Russia", who is behind them. I talked with the founder of the Company, a famous Richard Royal Richard Richard Richard, who said that society was based on a voluntary principle. However, it is not clear to me why people who care about the situation with human rights in Russia and who do not accept the sentence to the Pussy Riot group decided to participate in the reception in the Russian embassy. And if this society considers itself independent and not anti -Russian, why couldn't you find another place? London is a big city.

- Do you agree with Denis Makshin, who called the members of the society "useful idiots"?

- We need to wait if the “conservative friends of Russia” will have contacts with the Russian opposition. The building of the Russian embassy regularly hosts shares of members of Russian opposition groups living in London. If this society, along with a dialogue with Russian officials, will listen to Russian opposition groups, then I will believe that we are really talking about an independent organization. If it is limited to contacts only with Russian government representatives, then Denis Makshen, possibly, is right ...

The chairman of the Conservative Friends of Russia Society Richard Royal in an interview with Radio Liberty categorically denies the accusations of relations with the United Russia party and the Prochrevsky orientation of society:

- Our position on Russia is politically neutral and we position ourselves as a forum for open discussions. As an organization, we do not support any one Russian party or one of its politicians, we do not give preferences to any of them. I know that voices are heard that accuse us of relations with President Putin or his party. We have no connections with them, we are absolutely neutral and adhere to our own views on things. In the future, we intend to organize a number of debate in a wide variety of places, to which they intend to invite a variety of speakers and the most different audience, and not supporters of only one point of view.

- A reception at the Russian embassy took place shortly after the sentence was announced to the Pussy Riot group. Many saw in this the solidarity of the new society with the policy of the Russian authorities.

- The fact is that participation in the reception at the Russian embassy was planned two or three months ago. The coincidence of the reception with the announcement of the verdict in the Pussy Riot case was accidental. Our intentions did not include demonstrating solidarity with Russian politics. In the future, we intend to hold our debate in the building of the British parliament, in Russian restaurants and many other places.