The Kremlin said Thursday it hoped that "more professional people" would come to power in Britain after the BBC reported Boris Johnson will resign as Conservative party leader.

"We would like to hope that some day in Great Britain more professional people who can make decisions through dialogue will come to power," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"But at the moment there is little hope for that."  

Relations between Moscow and London have been bad for years and virtually collapsed after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.

Johnson's government has sanctioned dozens of wealthy, Kremlin-connected Russians and says their money is no longer welcome in Britain.

"He really does not like us. And we (do not like) him either," Peskov said of Johnson. 

The British prime minister has been one of Ukraine's strongest supporters as it battles Russia, visiting Kyiv twice since the conflict began and forging a personal relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

Moscow also said that Britain's political firestorm was proof of a deeper crisis in liberal democracies worldwide. 

"It is obvious to everyone that liberal regimes are in the deepest political, ideological and economic crisis," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging service.