Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov questions UK’s future

Russia’s foreign minister has questioned the future of the UK, suggesting it looks uncertain with “the Celts” looking to hold independence referendums.

Sergey Lavrov made the comments at a youth conference where he said he did “not know what will become of the country called Great Britain”, according to The Times, external.

The comments come weeks after the first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland declared “Westminster’s time is coming to an end” and signed an agreement to say it had no right to “block democracy”.

In response to Lavrov’s comments, Plaid Cymru said Wales’ constitutional future was “a matter for the people of Wales”, and “not for the Kremlin to endorse, oppose or exploit”.

In the conference, Lavrov also suggested the west had too much influence in the UN Security Council, external – the five permanent members are China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US.

According to The Times, he said: “The Celts — Wales, Ireland, Scotland — are now seeking to hold referenda.

“We do not advocate the expulsion of any of the permanent members of the security council. Although, of course, the scale of the British Empire, when it first took its seat in the UN security council at the organisation’s founding, has, naturally, diminished to the utmost degree.”