Rishi Sunak's ascent ground-breaking, says Joe Biden; Russia sees no hope

Washington, October 25

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US President Joe Biden has said the ascent of Rishi Sunak as the first Indian-origin UK Prime Minister is a “ground-breaking milestone.” “We got the news that Rishi Sunak is now the PM of the UK. It is pretty astounding, a ground-breaking milestone and it matters,” US President Joe Biden said at a Diwali reception at the White House.

Reactions from across political spectrum

We got the news that Rishi Sunak is now the PM of the UK. It is pretty astounding, a ground-breaking milestone and it matters. — Joe Biden, US President

We hope we can work with the UK on the basis of mutual respect and win-win co-operation and advance China-UK ties along the right track. Wang Wenbin, chinese foreign ministry spokesman

I don’t think it’s insignificant that a country like the UK has its first PM of colour. Jim Chalmers, australia’s treasurer

We look forward to working with Sunak on key issues we face on these islands and globally. Micheál Martin, Irish PM

I wish you to successfully overcome all challenges facing British society and the whole world today. I’m ready to continue strengthening the Ukraine-UK strategic partnership together. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President

Will serve from back benches

I wish Rishi Sunak every success. I look forward to spending more time in my constituency and serve the country from the back benches. Liz Truss, Outgoing PM

Daunting tasks ahead for PM sunak

• With debt interest costs rising and the outlook for the economy deteriorating, Sunak will now need to review all spendings, including on health, education, defence, welfare and pensions
• Sunak, a Goldman Sachs analyst who only entered Parliament in 2015, must unite his party, aware that voters are increasingly angry as economy heads for recession
• Historian Anthony Seldon said Sunak would also be constrained by the mistakes of his predecessor

Sunak was blamed by many in the Conservative Party when he quit as Finance Minister in the summer, triggering a wider rebellion that brought down Boris Johnson

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also lauded Sunak and hoped for better bilateral relations amidst a turbulent world.

The Kremlin, on the other hand, said on Tuesday that Russia saw no reason to expect relations with the UK to improve under Sunak. Russia does not see any “preconditions, grounds, or hope” for building more constructive relations with Great Britain in the foreseeable future, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on the appointment of Sunak as the UK’s new Prime Minister.

“No, at present, we do not see any preconditions, grounds or hopes for some positive shifts in the foreseeable future,” the Russian presidential spokesman was quoted as saying by the official news agency.

Russia-UK relations have soured even further since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. The UK responded with several rounds of sanctions, and it is one of the main backers of Zelenskyy. The UK has also provided substantial military support to Ukraine.

China’s leadership has said it wants to “advance ties with the UK” under Sunak, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was quoted as saying. Sunak has favoured closer ties with China than his predecessor and was criticised by Truss for pursuing a trading relationship when chancellor.