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Lavrov pointed to referendum campaigns in remarks about the UK’s future, but the political plans and constitutional questions differ across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, questioned the UK’s future in remarks at a youth conference reported by BBC Wales on 28 September. Citing The Times, the BBC said he pointed to Wales, Scotland and Ireland as places seeking referendums. Lavrov also criticised the diminished size of the British Empire, but said Russia was not advocating the expulsion of any permanent member of the UN Security Council. [1]
The three constitutional questions differ. The leaders of Plaid Cymru, the SNP and Sinn Féin signed a cooperation agreement in Cardiff on 14 September as party leaders, not government representatives. Their agreement recognises that each nation will determine its future on its own timetable. [3] [4]
The Welsh Government plans to request control over the timing and terms of an independence referendum, though First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has given no timetable. The Scottish Government has published a draft referendum bill that it says would be introduced once the necessary powers are secured. [5] [1] [6]
In Northern Ireland, the question is whether it remains in the UK or becomes part of a united Ireland, subject to the consent principles of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Responding to Lavrov’s remarks, Plaid Cymru said Wales’s future was for its people, not the Kremlin, to decide. SNP external affairs minister Stephen Gethins defended Scots’ right to decide their future and expressed support for Ukraine’s right to do the same. [8] [1]
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