Kremlin says new UK prime minister Liz Truss will bring 'no improvement' to frosty UK-Russia relations

• Liz Truss was named the next UK prime minister.
• The Kremlin said it expects "no improvement" in UK-Russia ties given her past criticism.

The Kremlin said it expects "no improvement" in the UK-Russia relationship under Liz Truss, the incoming prime minister.

Liz Truss, who previously served as UK foreign secretary, was named leader of the country's Conservative Party on Monday and will become prime minister on Tuesday.

Like her predecessor Boris Johnson, Truss has repeatedly criticized Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that he expects no warming of relations between Britain and Russia given her previous comments.

"Judging by the announcements about our country Mrs. Truss made as Foreign Minister and as a candidate for the post it is quite safe to suggest that no improvement for the better may be expected," Peskov said, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.

He also said he did not yet know if Russian President Vladimir Putin would congratulate Truss on her new role.

Peskov said on Monday, before Truss' win, that it was "hard to imagine anything worse" than the current UK-Russian relationship, but that it was possible things could deteriorate further.

He also said the prime minister candidates "competed with each other in anti-Russian rhetoric."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in February, weeks before Russia's invasion, that dealing with then-Foreign Secretary Truss was "like a conversation with a deaf person."