INTERFAX.RU reported on June 24th that Russia has never interfered and did not affect the voting process in the UK on leaving the EU, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We have never interfered, never spoken about this. We behaved, in my opinion, very properly and, of course, closely followed what was going on, but we did not influence this process and never even tried to do it," Putin told Russian journalists in Tashkent after the end of the SCO summit.

According to the Russian president, the statement of the English Prime Minister and other members of the British leadership that Brexit is beneficial for Russia is a flawed attempt to influence public opinion and a manifestation of the lows of political culture.

"The statement by the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mr. Cameron before the plebiscite, before the referendum, in which he voiced Russia's position has no basis—I think it's nothing more than a flawed attempt to influence public opinion in his own country," Putin said. "As we can see, even this did not have the right result for those who did it. Nobody has the right to talk about Russia’s position, especially after the vote. It's nothing more than a manifestation of the low level of political culture."

Putin also noted that Brexit will have a global impact and whether it brings benefits or damage, only time will tell.

"And for the UK and Europe as a whole, and for us, of course, this will have an impact. If the organization of the referendum and the subsequent results available today is nothing more than British leadership’s arrogance and superficial ways to solving crucial issues for its own country and for Europe as a whole, the consequences will be global in nature," Putin said. According to him, such consequences are "inevitable” and will be “both positive and negative."

"If we are talking about the sanctions policy, I don't think that [the decision of Britain to leave the EU] will somehow change our relations with the European Union in this regard," he said, commenting on the results of the referendum in the UK. He added that Britain's decision to withdraw from the EU is linked to the high concentration of power in the structures of the European Union and the erosion of national borders.

"Percentage-wise, the number of mandatory decisions by the European Parliament is greater than the number of binding decisions that were made by the USSR Supreme Soviet for the Federal Republics. This means that the concentration of power [in the governing structures of the EU] is very high," Putin said.

"Some like it. Some want to go down that path of blurring national boundaries; others don’t. The vast majority of citizens of Great Britain, judging by the results, don’t like it. They are not satisfied with it."

At the same time Putin once again stressed that the outcome of the referendum in the UK is the choice of subjects of this country. "We did not interfere with this, do not interfere, and do not intend to interfere," he stressed.

  Russia, EU

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