The UK blocked the conclusion of an agreement with Russia on mutual recognition of documents on education, the Russian embassy in London said. The commentary was made in connection with the data of the Union of Independent Schools of Britain (ISC), published by The Telegraph. According to the union, in 2015, 2795 pupils from Russia studied in private British educational institutions, by 2018 their number decreased by 40% - to 1699.

"The UK, unlike a number of other European countries, has blocked the conclusion of an agreement with Russia on the mutual recognition of documents on education, and this is an important factor for Russian families in choosing a place for children's education," the embassy spokesman said.

In addition, he said, British private education is losing its appeal to the Russians "against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between the two countries and the unleashed anti-Russian campaign." According to the spokesman of the embassy, ​​the Russians fear that children will fall into an unfriendly environment in the case of training in Britain.

"The unreasonable policy of the Conservative government adversely affects the position of the British educational sector, and counts the losses that are due in connection with the [referendum] Brexit," the embassy added.

Relations between Russia and Britain deteriorated after the poisoning of ex-colonel GRU Sergey Skripal and his daughter Julia in the city of Salisbury in early March. The British authorities accuse Russia of involvement in the poisoning of Russians with the nerve agent "Novice", which was produced in the USSR and Russia. In Moscow, they deny involvement in the incident with the Sergey Skripal.

Link: https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5ae398519a79479cd7913f76