Russia has delivered a final blow to Liz Truss after she resigned as prime minister, saying she was a “shame” of a leader who would be remembered for her “catastrophic illiteracy,” as world leaders reacted to the news.
“Britain has never seen such disgrace from a prime minister,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. “The catastrophic illiteracy and funeral of the Queen immediately following her audience with Liz Truss will be remembered.”
The allegations of illiteracy appear to relate to Truss’s visit to Moscow in February, before Russia invaded Ukraine, when Truss was British Foreign Secretary. In a meeting with Russia’s veteran Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, she appeared to confuse two regions of Russia with Ukraine, prompting widespread ridicule in the Russian media.
“Britain has never seen such disgrace from a prime minister,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (pictured left). “The catastrophic illiteracy and funeral of the Queen immediately following her audience with Liz Truss will be remembered”. Right picture: Liz Truss visiting Moscow during her time as British Foreign Secretary in February 2022
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Twitter: “Bye bye @trussliz, congratulations on the salad,” referring to the days-long livestream from the British tabloid Daily Star, which asked if Truss’ difficult premiership was affecting the shelf life of a salad would survive.
Truss’ resignation drew extensive and cheerful coverage on Russian state television.
A guest on political talk show Time Will Tell said Truss possessed the three qualities needed to succeed in British politics: “stupidity, arrogance and belligerence”.
Truss has been the target of scathing comments from Moscow since her visit in February as part of a futile initiative by Western politicians to invade Ukraine.
Russian officials viewed Truss’s premiership with trepidation from the start and reveled in her numerous gaffes.
Upon her appointment in September, Lavrov said Truss didn’t know how to compromise and asked how the British leader could say she didn’t know if French President Emmanuel Macron was a “friend or foe”.
Zakharova on Thursday also mocked Truss’ high-profile photoshoot in Estonia last year, where she donned an anti-aircraft jacket and helmet to ride in a tank during a visit to British troops stationed in the Baltic country.
Relations between Moscow and London have deteriorated for years, including over the 2018 poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury. They have hit record lows since Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
Britain is one of Kiev’s staunchest supporters in relation to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and Russia considers it one of the unfriendliest Western countries.
Truss announced her resignation on Thursday, just 44 days after her appointment, with a leadership election in her Conservative Party expected within the next week.
Truss’ tenure was derailed by her economic program, which sent shockwaves through financial markets and was all but abandoned.
Other leaders also reacted as news of Truss’s unprecedented resignation as prime minister resonated around the world.
French President Emmanuel Macron wished Britain a speedy return to stability, while the White House reiterated that the US will continue close ties.
Ireland’s Prime Minister Michael Martin expressed his hope that Truss’s successor would be chosen quickly to ensure stability.
Arriving at an EU summit, Macron said he would not comment on Britain’s internal politics, but added: “It is important that Britain regains political stability very quickly and that is all I wish for.”
Pictured: French President Emmanuel Macron winks at photographers as he arrives for a two-day EU Council in Brussels, Belgium October 20, 2022 – shortly after Liz Truss announced she was stepping down as Britain’s Prime Minister
Relations between Paris and London were often sour as Britain negotiated its divorce from the European Union and threatened to sour when Truss wooed her party’s hardline pro-Brexit wing.
During her election campaign to elect the Conservative Party leader and thus Prime Minister, Truss famously said that “the jury is undecided” as to whether the French leader is a friend or foe of Britain.
But there were also signs of a possible rapprochement on strategic issues when Truss agreed to attend the first summit of the Macron-inspired European Political Community in Prague.
News of Truss’ resignation broke as Macron arrived at the EU summit in Brussels, and he was asked about it by reporters. When he arrived, he winked at the photographers and gave the thumbs up.
Macron said he had several phone calls with Truss during her brief tenure and was pleased to see her in Prague.
“I would like to say that France, as a nation and people who are friends of the British people, wishes them stability above all,” he said, stressing the context of the war in Ukraine and the energy price crisis.
“But personally I’m always sad when a colleague leaves in this way and what I want to say is that I wish stability can return soon.”
In August, Mr. Macron reacted with anger to Truss’s “friend or foe” comments.
Pictured: Macron (left) holds a bilateral meeting with Truss on September 20, 2022 on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York City
In a concerted dig, Mr Macron said at the time: “The UK is a friendly nation, independent of its leaders and sometimes in defiance of its leaders.”
When further questioned about Ms Truss’ perceived insult, Mr Macron said: “It’s never a good idea to lose your bearings in life. ‘If I had been asked the question myself [as to whether I’m a friend or foe of Liz Truss]that’s how I would answer it – whoever becomes Britain’s next leader, I will personally ask myself no questions.
“Britain is a friend of France and you know we live in a complicated world.
“We have more and more liberal governments, autocratic democracies and other powers creating imbalances, and if we can’t tell whether the French and the British are friends or foes – and the word foes is not a neutral one – then we’re headed for serious problems .
“So yes, I say it with certainty, the British people, the British nation is our friend. The UK, strong and united, notwithstanding its leaders and sometimes despite and above its leaders, or notwithstanding the little mistakes they can make in their speeches,” he said in August.
On Thursday, US President Biden vowed to continue working closely with the UK following Truss’ resignation.
“I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a number of issues, including Russia’s responsibility for its war against Ukraine,” Biden said in a statement.
Prime Minister Liz Truss held a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden at the UN building in New York during her visit to the US to attend the 77th UN General Assembly in September. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said Thursday that the United States will continue its close ties with Britain and Truss’s successor
“We will continue our close working relationship with the UK Government as we work together to tackle the global challenges facing our nations.”
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain previously made a similar statement.
“Our country has always had a special relationship with the United Kingdom, regardless of our President’s party affiliation or the politics of its Prime Minister,” Klain told MSNBC in a television interview. “This will continue no matter who Britain elects as the next prime minister.”
Klain cited many common causes, including Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, as areas where the two historic allies would remain aligned.
“We will work very, very closely with Prime Minister Truss’s successor,” he said.
Ireland’s Prime Minister Martin said: “I think stability is very important and we want the British system to be able, within its capabilities, to select a successor as quickly as possible…in these times when there is a major war going on.” is the continent in Europe.’
Donohoe said he looks forward to continuing Ireland’s close friendship with the UK following Liz Truss’ resignation as Prime Minister.
Ireland’s Finance Minister said: “The UK’s political and economic stability is a crucial factor in Ireland’s and Europe’s economic prospects and the UK Government has reaffirmed its commitment to budgetary and economic standards.
“Ireland has always been a close friend of the UK and the UK Government, even at difficult and challenging moments during the Brexit process.
“We have always reaffirmed the value of this close friendship and we really look forward to continuing this close friendship and working relationship with the new UK Prime Minister in the period to come.”
Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed his “dismay” that she left office and said Truss’s successor is the fifth British Prime Minister he has worked with since taking office in 2010.
‘I’ve had good contact with her (…) so I personally resent her (…) We’ve agreed on a whole set of views and I look forward to working with my next colleague,’ adding: ‘It will be the fifth I think.’