Staffordshire council cuts its ties with Russian city
Staffordshire County Council has severed ties with the Russian city it has been twinned with for nearly two decades.
The authority has built up a close relationship with the city of Ivanovo, 190 miles north east of Moscow, which has seen dignitaries and youngsters from both regions exchange visits on a regular basis since the late 1990s.
A civic delegation of Russians last visited the county in 2016, but Staffordshire County Council leader Philip Atkins said today there were 'no plans for any further exchanges'.
Defence Secretary and South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson has urged the authority to cut all ties with Putin's regime in the wake of the Russian spy poisoning.
Staffordshire County Council leader Philip Atkins, said: “The exchanges developed from a personal contact made after Glasnost with an aim of promoting a better understanding and to help develop their local government, and over several years since then we have made personal friendships and business contacts through them.
“The nature of the relationship has evolved over time. A civic delegation from Ivanovo last visited Staffordshire in 2016 and there are currently no plans for any further exchanges.”
Tensions between Britain and Russia have deepened since former spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were targeted in a nerve gas attack in Salisbury earlier this month.
The British Government has blamed the Kremlin for the attack, and expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation.
Moscow has denied any involvement.
Mr Williamson, who recently said Russia should 'go away and shut up', said Staffordshire County Council was right to cut its ties.
"The attack in Salisbury was a brazen act by Putin and the Kremlin that has shocked the entire nation," he said.
"We have seen our allies stand shoulder to shoulder with us over this. It is only right that Staffordshire County Council cuts its ties with Putin's regime that has put millions of Russian people in poverty, desperation and devastation."
The connection started in 1999 and has been officially described by the council as ‘an international civic partnership between Staffordshire County Council and the City Administration of Ivanovo’.
The visits to Russia cost the authority between £3,500 and £6,854 each time. In honour of its Russian friends, the authority named a room in the County Buildings, Stafford, 'The Ivanovo Room'.
As the relationship developed, links have been forged between schools, community centres and sports club, including Burton Albion Football Club.
