Welsh independence not for Kremlin to decide, says first minister

Wales’ constitutional future within the UK is for its people and not the Kremlin to endorse or exploit, the first minister has said.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, who attended a pro-independence march at the weekend, distanced himself from reported remarks by the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who questioned whether the UK has a future.

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar said Lavrov’s comments showed the “folly” of focusing on “constitutional navel gazing”.

Speaking in the Senedd on Tuesday, the first minister questioned the “wisdom” of senior Welsh politicians “quoting a Kremlin propagandist in order to pursue their unionist agenda here”.

Ap Iorwerth has called for the powers to call such a vote to be devolved, and has said he would make the case for Wales to be an independent state.

During the Senedd election campaign in May, Plaid said the vote was not about independence.

Plaid has ruled out trying to hold a referendum in this Senedd term, which ends in 2030, and has not put a date on when one could happen.

However, two weeks ago he called a summit of the leaders of Sinn Féin and the SNP, where the three parties said Westminster’s time “is coming to an end”.

The nationalist leaders from Plaid Cymru, Sinn Féin and the SNP – who want their countries to leave the United Kingdom – signed an agreement on Monday which said no Westminster government had the right to “block democracy”.

Sinn Féin and the SNP are, respectively, calling for referendums on Northern Ireland and Scotland leaving the UK.

Sergei Lavrov appeared to seize on the summit in 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.