Brexit: Russia for good ties with UK, stronger EU

Moscow: The Kremlin on Friday hoped that Britain’s decision to exit the European Union would not damage ties with Russia, insisting that a strong and predictable European Union is in Moscow’s best interests.

President Vladimir Putin has yet to comment on the result of the referendum, but his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he hoped the decision to leave the EU would not hurt Britain’s bilateral ties with Russia.

“We have a complicated history... in bilateral relations, we can’t always say that our British partners are ready to communicate and cooperate,” Peskov said. “We hope that in the new reality, the understanding of a necessity to build good relations with our country will prevail.”

Britain's relations with Russia have soured in recent years notably by the case of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko who was murdered by polonium poisoning in London. Many observers have said that Brexit would play into the hands of Putin.

Spain says it wants to govern Gibraltar
Spain said on Friday it was closer to asserting control over Gibraltar after Britain voted to leave the European Union, prompting London to jump to the defence of its overseas territory.

The tiny rocky outcrop on Spain’s southern tip has long been the subject of an acrimonious sovereignty row between London and Madrid, which wants Gibraltar back after it was ceded to Britain in 1713.

“Our formula... is British-Spanish co-sovereignty for a determined period of time, which after that time has elapsed, will head towards the restitution of Gibraltar to Spanish sovereignty,” said Spain’s acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo. The idea of joint-sovereignty is not new, and such a proposal was etched out between Britain and Spain in 2001 and 2002.