Brexit Optimist Johnson Says Enthusiasm Didn’t Work With Russia

(Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson, the favorite to succeed Theresa May as U.K. prime minister, has built his campaign for leadership of the Conservative Party on the fact that he can bring a new optimism and “positive energy” that will deliver Brexit.

Part of his pitch is “where there’s a will there’s a way,” and he says he’s confident he can get a new Brexit deal with the European Union. But at a public meeting in Exeter, southwest England, on Friday he talked about an experience with Russia when he was foreign secretary that shows the limits of an enthusiastic attitude.

“I really thought it was possible to eyeball the Russians and get a new relationship,” Johnson said. “I was very optimistic, I went to Moscow -- in defiance of a lot of advice -- and tried to build a new relationship and it just isn’t there.”

In his leadership campaign, Johnson is defying warnings that the European Union will not renegotiate the Brexit deal that Theresa May struck last year. So far, the EU has prioritized the unity of the bloc over short-term economic interests. His case is that the U.K. did not try hard enough and that May did not have enough self-belief in her negotiations.

The question if he becomes prime minister is whether his optimism will make any difference.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Emma Ross-Thomas, Stuart Biggs

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