Starmer's Resignation 'Unites Us All': Russia's Top Negotiator Celebrates

The British establishment has remained deeply adversarial to Russia even as across the pond President Trump has tried to improve bilateral relations with Moscow.

The UK was among the first nations to hand Kiev long-range missiles, especially the Storm Shadow (a Franco-British low-observable, long-range air-launched cruise missile) - and so Moscow doesn't have high hopes for improving relations with London anytime soon.

This week's huge news out of Britain - in the form of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's resignation, has been largely met with a shrug out of the Kremlin, which has said things regarding the UK stance on Ukraine remain unchanged.

But it was Russian Special Presidential Envoy Kirill Dmitriev's comment on X which raised most eyebrows in Europe, as he openly celebrated the news. He wrote: 

"We did it. Starmer's resignation unites us all," echoing comments made earlier by US President Donald Trump.

"We did this jointly by exposing Starmer’s warmongering and consistently wrong policies on immigration, crime, energy and economy. He failed to protect Britain and was destroying Western civilization," the top Russian negotiator and close Putin confidant wrote on X.

We did this jointly by exposing Starmer’s warmongering and consistently wrong policies on immigration, crime, energy and economy. He failed to protect Britain and was destroying Western civilisation.

Merz is next unless he changes policies. pic.twitter.com/iT2RGyzAkP

— Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) June 22, 2026

As for the much more 'official' Russian line, this was issued by Peskov...

"There are many questions about whether things could improve after him, but it is unlikely that anyone on Britain's political scene will have a position on our bilateral relations that differs significantly from Keir Starmer's," Peskov said.

Indeed UK-Russia relations have deteriorated over a period spanning many UK leaders in rapid succession. After all, with Starmer's resignation announce, the country will soon see its seventh PM within only a decade.

Peskov somewhat downplayed the issue of the resignation, while other Russian officials sounded closer to Dmitriev in their perspectives. Russian media reviews:

The criticism extended to Russia’s parliament, where Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov predicted Starmer would be gone by autumn, branding him “a destroyer of everything possible” who “only sets countries against each other” and “hinders any negotiation process.”

Speaking to RT on Monday, Nikolay Topornin, director of the Center for European Information and an international observer, said Starmer’s departure is unlikely to bring any major shift in British foreign policy.

“The British course to support Kiev, to punish Russia, and to provide military and financial support to Ukraine will remain unchanged,” he said.

Starmer's stepping aside was directly catalyzed by last week's by-election victory of Andy Burnham in Makerfield. Burnham, the fiercely popular former Greater Manchester Mayor, has long loomed as the "King in the North" and the ultimate threat to Starmer's sterile brand - according to many - of leadership. By securing a seat in the House of Commons, Burnham effectively checked Starmer into a corner.

Burnham is heavily favored as the UK's next leader. From Russia's perspective, this is likely to be a "same as the old" situation, as the UK's entire defense/political/intelligence institutions are lock-step in anti-Russia policies and actions.