May blames Putin for spy poisoning

Putin given deadline, warned of retaliation

Prime Minister Theresa May publicly blamed Russia for poisoning a former spy and his daughter on British soil, as escalating tension between the Kremlin and the West raised fears of a new Cold War.

In a dramatic statement to a hushed House of Commons, May announced that Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, had been targeted eight days ago with a “military grade” nerve agent known as “Novichok” that was developed by Russia. She set President Vladimir Putin a deadline of midnight on Tuesday to provide a credible explanation for the attack.

“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,” May told Parliament in London on Monday.

May will meet with her intelligence and security chiefs on Wednesday morning to assess the Russian response before deciding on retaliatory measures that could range from the expulsion of diplomats to sanctions.

“Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the U.K.,” May said. “And I will come back to this House and set out the full range of measures that we will take.”

Russia wasted little time in dismissing the prime minister’s assessment. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called May’s statement a “circus act.”