'Circus' at the British Parliament: Britain gives Moscow two days to explain alleged use of nerve agent from Russia

Britain gives Moscow two days to explain alleged use of nerve agent from Russia (VIDEO)

RT,
12 March, 2018

Britain has given Moscow two days to explain the alleged use of a military-grade nerve agent from Russia to poison former double agent Sergei Skripal. PM Theresa May says it is "highly likely" Russia was responsible.

She alleges the attack was either a direct act by the Russian state on Britain, or the Russian government allowed its nerve agent 'Novichok' to get into the wrong hands. “The government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible,” she said.

"Either this was a direct act by the Russian State against our country, or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others."

She added that Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, summoned the Russian ambassador to the foreign office on Monday. He said Russia must explain which of the two possible explanations is the correct one. She says the ambassador must reply by the end of Tuesday.

May says if Russia does not give a "credible response" the government will conclude that the attack involved "unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom." May says if the government does come to that conclusion, she will return to the Commons to outline retaliatory proposals.

"This attempted murder using a weapons-grade nerve agent in a British town was not just a crime against the Skripals. It was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the United Kingdom, putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk," she added.

"We will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil."

Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter have been in hospital in a critical condition since March 4 when they were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in Salisbury.

May says the government will be considering whether dignitaries and ministers from the UK will be attending the World Cup. But she did not say anything about the England team boycotting the event, which suggests that that is not on the agenda.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for a “robust” dialogue with Russia. "We need to continue seeking a robust dialogue with Russia on all the issues dividing our countries, both domestic and international - rather than simply cutting off contact and simply letting tensions and divisions get worse, and potentially even more dangerous.”

He caused uproar among Tory MPs by raising the issue of £800,000 donated by Russian oligarchs to the Conservative Party.

The Prime Minister chaired a National Security Council (NSC) meeting on Monday, which brought together senior ministers with intelligence and security officials.

Russia has denied any involvement in the attack.

'Circus' at the British Parliament – Russian Foreign Ministry reacts to May's words on Skripal case

A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry called the hearing at the British parliament on the Skripal case a "circus show."

Follow RT's coverage of the debate in Parliament

"The conclusion is obvious: this is another information and political campaign, based on provocation," said Maria Zakharova, commenting on the words of Theresa May.

Zakharova's comments come after May said earlier on Monday that the "attempted murder" of Skripal was either "a direct act by the Russian State against our country, or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others."

May said that the Russian ambassador to the UK has been summoned to the Foreign Office, and that he must explain which explanation is the correct one. The ambassador has until the end of Tuesday to respond, according to May.

If he does not give a "credible response," the UK will conclude that the attack involved "unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom." In that case, May said she will return to the House of Commons to outline retaliatory proposals.

"Before creating new fairy tales, let somebody in the kingdom tell us what was the result of the previous investigations into the Litvinenko, Berezovsky and Perepilichny cases," Zakharova suggested.

Zakharova's comments referenced three high-profile deaths which occurred in the UK and were blamed on Russia – despite zero evidence to this day.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov specifically addressed the case of Litvinenko on Friday, noting that the UK's finger-pointing at Moscow runs parallel to what happened in that case.

“I want to remind people that Litvinenko’s death was also attributed to Russia, but hasn’t been investigated, because court proceedings, which were called ‘public,’ were, in fact, closed. They were carried out in a very strange way, and numerous facts, which emerged throughout the investigation, haven’t come into the public domain,” the minister said.

Litvinenko died in November 2006, after assassins allegedly slipped radioactive polonium 21 into his cup of tea at a London hotel. However, his own brother Maksim stated in 2016 that Britain had more reason to kill Litvinenko than Russia.

In the case of Boris Berezovsky, Putin's critics have long speculated that the billionaire was murdered by pro-Putin hitmen in 2013. However, British police said in 2013 that there was no evidence of foul play relating to this death.

In addition, no evidence has ever been provided that Russia was behind the death of businessman Aleksandr Perepilichny, who collapsed and died in Surrey, UK, in 2012.

Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter have been in critical condition in hospital since March 4, when they were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in Salisbury.

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