Two British peers attend Russian ambassador’s party in London and state that “Crimea is most definitely Russian”

The Guardian reported on this.
It is noted that the party was organized on June 12th to mark Russia Day. It was attended by a total of 50 people, including Russian embassy staff, foreign diplomats, and several Britons.

According to the agency, the Russian ambassador delivered a speech at the party, attempting to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Kelin reportedly said “in order to develop normally, Russia must first deal with significant threats to its security”. The ambassador also accused Britain of making a “big strategic miscalculation” by engaging in a confrontational approach to Moscow.

Balfe confirmed to the Guardian he was present at the event where, he said, he had perfunctory conversation with the Russian defence attache. The peer said he believed that eventually there would have to be a negotiated settlement in which Ukraine gave up some territory to Russia.

“Ukraine is, to be honest, a mess of a country. It was knocked together by Churchill and Stalin towards the end of world war two,” he said.

He added that he believed “Crimea is most definitely Russian” and that Moscow had legitimate claims on Donetsk and Luhansk.

Robert Skidelsky said he was opposed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but attended because “I wanted to show my respect and affection for the Russian people on their national day, especially in these circumstances”.

Reference.

Richard Balfe is a former Member of the European Parliament from the Labour Party who switched to the Conservatives in 2002 and has a history of expressing sympathy towards Russia. During the crisis related to the poisoning of the Skripals in 2018, Balfe reiterated calls for Russia to verify the use of the nerve agent.

Robert Skidelsky served on the Board of Directors of Russneft from 2016 to 2021. Shortly after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Skidelsky wrote a letter in which he condemned this step but also questioned why the West did not promise that NATO would not expand to the east and include Ukraine in its membership.

• In New Zealand, an employee of a broadcasting company was found to have added pro-Russian propaganda to news coverage of the war in Ukraine.