Mary Dejevsky, The Independent's chief editorial writer and columnist, told Sputnik that the report focused on the deterioration of relations between London and Moscow and called for their revision, because of the low level of bilateral ties.
"The top line of the report is that the United Kingdom really needs to revise its policy toward Russia and it needs to re-engage [the cooperation]. The point is made that United Kingdom's relations with Russia are probably worse than those of almost any other country's with Russia whether in Europe or the United States. The British have taken a harder line on controversies such as Ukraine and Syria, which makes the policy in some ways more difficult to change and could leave Britain isolated," the journalist said.
She added that there were probably a certain split in the FAC on the issue of Russia's policy assessment, as several members of parliament accused Russia of acting "out of international legal framework," however, the other group of the UK lawmakers said that Moscow's actions were "largely" of a defensive nature.
"A lot of the things that [Russia] is being accused of, the West and the United Kingdom and the United States could also be accused of," the UK reporter said, citing the war in Iraq launched without the UN approval and the declaration of Kosovo's independence.
Dejevsky added that the report called London to be more careful in several accusations of Russia of "war crimes" conducted in Syria, as such statements could usually be made without proper evidence to justify them.
At the same time, member of the upper house of the Russian parliament Alexei Pushkov told Sputnik that the report did not signal that London supports a thaw in bilateral relations with Moscow.
"The report does not prove any evidence of thaw in London's policy toward Russia. In practice, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK House of Commons is the only institution in the United Kingdom which recently supports the renewal of dialogue and cooperation with Russia again and again," Pushkov said.
Fyodor Lukyanov, the chairman of the Presidium of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, told Sputnik that creation of such reports could prove that the United Kingdom started to form its new status within the international community, following Brexit.
"It seems that appearance of such documents — is the proof that the period of formulating a new own status on the world stage has really started in the United Kingdom… if the United Kingdom withdraws from a certain community, which formulates a common policy as for Russia… then, taking into consideration the parameters of the United Kingdom, it also needs some own position, which should not repeat the position of either Europe or of the United States," Lukyanov said.
She added that a number of the report's provisions, such as the consideration of the future of the restrictions imposed on Moscow, showed that London started preparations to live after the European Union" on itself.
Vladimir Jabarov, the first deputy chair of the Russian Federation Council's Committee on Foreign Affairs, told Sputnik that London's exit from the European Union and it's desire to act in cooperation with the United States could had affected the preparation of the report.
"The Britons want to be in harness with the United States, as they have done it before," Jabarov said, adding that UK Prime Minister Theresa May had understood that Washington would like to mend ties with Russia under the presidency of Donald Trump.
