A Vladimir Putin ally has mocked Sir Keir Starmer in a post to his X social media page. Kirill Dmitriev is the Kremlin’s economic envoy and a close confidante of the Russian leader.
He spent the last few days in the US in a desperate bid to get the White House to row back on its new swingeing economic sanctions. These targeted the Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, which together account for nearly half of the Kremlin’s crude exports. The move is likely to have a major impact on the Kremlin’s ability to wage its brutal war in Ukraine.
Oil and gas revenue accounts for up to a quarter of Russia’s budget and is the most important source of cash for Moscow’s military campaign, now in its fourth year.
Despite Russia’s dire economic situation, Dmitriev found time to taunt Britain’s beleaguered Prime Minister.
“As I was flying over London on the way back to Russia from the US, I reflected on the struggle of the British people — against uncontrolled immigration, grooming gangs, and the ‘mark of the beast’ Digital ID — all while suffering under the most unpopular PM in UK history, Starmer,” he wrote.
Starmer’s approval rating in the UK is indeed among the lowest of any Western leader. A pan-European survey conducted at the end of August by the polling company YouGov found just 22% of British people had a favourable opinion of Starmer, in contrast to 69% who viewed him unfavourably – a net rating of -47%.
The polling was conducted before the resignation of the former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, forced Starmer into a cabinet reshuffle.
Emmanuel Macron was the only Western leader more unpopular at home than the British Prime Minister, according to the survey.
Dmitriev tried to put on a brave face following the White House’s decision to impose the new sanctions.
He said they would not impact Russia’s economy, a claim swiftly dismissed by the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
In an interview with CBS, he said: “Are you really going to publish what a Russian propagandist says? I mean, what else is he going to say?
“The Russian economy is a wartime economy. Growth is virtually zero.”
Meanwhile, the sanctions on Russia’s top oil companies have spooked financial markets in Moscow. The MOEX index, which lost 6.5% last week, fell another 3.2% by 2:50pm Moscow time to 2,457.87 points, its lowest level since December 2024.
