The embarrassment makes Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin one of only three national governments banned from the funeral. Around 500 foreign dignitaries are expected to attend Monday’s funeral at Westminster Abbey, making it the biggest international gathering the UK has hosted in decades. Diplomatic sources said it was “equivalent to hundreds of state visits over two weeks. We usually only do two of these a year.” Every country with which the UK has diplomatic relations has been invited, with the exception of Russia, Belarus and Myanmar.
Diplomatic freeze
Iran is only invited at ambassadorial level, reflecting long-standing diplomatic tensions over its nuclear programme, the detention of dual British nationals and what the UK sees as support for terrorism in the Middle East. The embarrassment in Russia reflects a state of near-total diplomatic freeze between London and Moscow since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February. Belarus has not taken part in the war, but has allowed Russia to use its territory for the invasion and as a base from which to launch missiles. The Foreign Office has sanctioned dozens of senior officials from both countries. Putin waited several hours to send a short but polite telegram of condolences to King Charles the night the queen died, saying she “rightfully enjoyed the love and respect of her subjects, as well as high regard on the world stage.”
“It’s hard to imagine how much worse it could get.”
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said when Liz Truss became prime minister that he hoped relations “would not get worse”, adding: “it is hard to imagine how much worse it could get”. Others in Moscow were less diplomatic. Margarita Simonyan, a close Putin ally and head of state media company Russia Today, said on social media that she was disappointed with Russians offering condolences. “It’s not our loss,” he wrote. Relations with Yangon have been strained since the military overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in February 2021. Last month the ruling junta jailed a former British ambassador. Vicky Bowman and her husband Htein Lin, a former political prisoner, were arrested last month at their home in Yangon after being charged with violating immigration laws.
Genocide against the Rohingya
Their arrest came shortly after Britain extended sanctions against Myanmar’s military junta to mark the fifth anniversary of the genocide against the Rohingya in Rakhine state. Britain suspended diplomatic relations with Iran for almost a decade after the 1979 revolution and again after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a Fatwa against Salman Rushdie in 1989. The British embassy in Tehran remained closed for two years after a 2011 invasion by pro-regime students. Britain and North Korea established diplomatic relations in 2000 after 60 years without embassies. Kim Jong Un rarely travels abroad and is unlikely to attend.
