Britain ‘hysterical’ over spy attack
BRITAIN: Russia has accused British Prime Minister Theresa May of creating a ‘‘hysterical atmosphere’’ after she expelled 23 of its diplomats from Britain in retaliation for a nerve agent attack that London believes was orchestrated by Moscow.
Britain announced the expulsion of the diplomats yesterday and cancelled an invitation for a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil.
The measures were part of a ‘‘full and robust’’ answer to the use of a Russian-developed nerve agent to poison the former double agent and his daughter, and Moscow’s refusal to account for the presence of the toxin, May told Parliament.
At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York called by Britain, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said May was creating a ‘‘hysterical atmosphere’’.
‘‘We do not speak the language of ultimatums,’’ Nebenzia said, referring to May’s summoning of Russia’s ambassador to demand an explanation. He also said there was no proof behind the ‘‘egregious’’ allegations contained in a letter sent by May to the security council president and the UN secretary-general.
Nebenzia then suggested that perhaps fictional British detective Sherlock Holmes would be better placed to carry out an investigation than London’s Scotland Yard.
Russia’s ‘‘denial, distraction and threats’’ would not deter Britain, its UN ambassador Jonathan Allen said, adding that there was ‘‘no alternative conclusion’’ other than that Russia was responsible for the attack.
In Paris, Foreign Minister Jeanyves Le Drian said France would shortly coordinate with Britain on its response to the poisoning. European security and ‘‘the security of one of our principal allies’’ was at stake, Le Drian said.
Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, remain critically ill in a hospital after they were found unconscious last week on a bench in the southern English town of Salisbury.
Britain has identified the nerve agent as one of a class of chemical warfare agents known as Novichoks, which Russia inherited from the Soviet Union. Russia was in breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention for not declaring the Novichok programme, Allen said.
In addition to the diplomatic measures, Britain announced that it would send no senior officials or members of the royal family to the football World Cup in Russia this year, and was suspending ‘‘all planned high-level contacts’’ between London and Moscow.
Russia vowed to quickly retaliate for the expulsions, condemning the British measure as an ‘‘unprecedentedly crude provocation’’ conducted ‘‘under a false pretext’’.
‘‘This will be the single biggest expulsion for over 30 years, and it reflects the fact that this is not the first time that the Russian state has acted against our country,’’ May said, citing the poisoning of another former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, who died in 2006 after drinking tea laced with a radioactive isotope.
The White House said the United States shared Britain’s assessment that Russia was responsible for the attack, and supported Britain’s decision to expel the Russian diplomats.
The attack ‘‘fits into a pattern of behaviour in which Russia disregards the international rules-based order‘‘, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said
Speaking at the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Nikki Haley echoed Britain’s conclusion that Russia was responsible for the attack.