Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Why even Vladimir Putin has paid tribute to the Queen

There is a strange Anglophilia still strikingly present in Russia

Vladimir Putin and Queen Elizabeth II, 2003 (photo: Getty)

It is a mark of the Queen’s standing that even Vladimir Putin, in the midst of an undeclared economic and political war between Russia and the West, sent King Charles III his ‘deepest condolences’ after Her Majesty’s death. The Russian leader noted that:

‘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.’

Calling it a ‘heavy, irreparable loss,’ he wished the King ‘courage and perseverance’ and sent ‘the words of sincere sympathy and support to the members of the royal family and all the people of Great Britain.’

It reflects the strange Anglophilia still strikingly present in Russia

On one level, it would be easy simply to dismiss this as hypocritical cant and the meaningless language of international diplomacy. Yet that is not all there is to it.

Mark Galeotti
Written by
Mark Galeotti

Mark Galeotti heads the consultancy Mayak Intelligence and is honorary professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies and the author of some 30 books on Russia. His latest, Forged in War: a military history of Russia from its beginnings to today, is out now.

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