He said this would bring the UK and Russia closer together and would promote bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.
The Ambassador said the Russian investment climate would be discussed at the EU-Russia summit in October. He said the summit would be preceded by sessions of four thematic groups for energy dialogue in early September and that the presidents and energy ministers of Russia and the EU member states would discuss the results of these meetings.
When asked about the reaction of the British business community to the Yukos affair and the sentencing of former Yukos head, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, to ten years in prison, Brenton said that London believed Moscow should be able to show to the outside world that Russia provided normal conditions for business.
Brenton praised Vladimir Putin's latest State of the Nation address to parliament, in which the Russian president said the media must be more open to opposition views and criticized the tax authorities for bullying businesses. The ambassador also said he was impressed by the spectrum of opinions expressed in the Russian media.
