Unforgivable, says Kremlin

Moscow fumes as UK points finger at Putin; Kremlin opens probe into spy attack

MOSCOW — Britain’s Foreign Secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering a nerve agent attack in britain, ratcheting up tensions on friday in an increasingly global showdown over alleged russian meddling abroad.

While britain has accused the russian state of ordering the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson took it a step further and said it’s “overwhelmingly likely” that putin himself ordered the attack.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded saying johnson’s claims violated all rules of diplomatic protocol. He denounced the claim as “shocking and unforgivable”.

Geopolitical tensions have been mounting since the poisoning of skripal and his daughter yulia in the english city of salisbury on march 4, in what western powers see as the latest sign of increasingly aggressive russian interference in foreign countries. The tensions threaten to overshadow putin’s expected re-election on sunday for another six-year presidential term.

Meanwhile, the investigative committee, which reports to putin, opened a probe into the “attempted premeditated murder” of skripal’s daughter, a russian national, which it said had been “carried out in a way that was dangerous to the public”. —

Our quarrel is with Putin’s Kremlin, and with his decision, and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision, to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK Boris Johnson,

British Foreign Secretary

moscow — Britain on Friday provoked Russia’s wrath by directly implicating Vladimir Putin in the nerve agent attack on an ex-double agent, with the Kremlin saying the claims were “shocking and unforgivable.”

The war of words between Moscow and London over the poisoning of a former Russian spy escalated as Britain’s outspoken Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said his government’s “quarrel” was with Putin rather than the Russian people.

“We think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe, for the first time since the Second World War,” Johnson said in London.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded saying Johnson’s claims violated all rules of diplomatic protocol.

Linking Putin to the attack on Sergei Skripal, who moved to Britain in a 2010 spy swap, “is nothing but shocking and unforgivable behaviour from the point of view of diplomacy,” Peskov told Russian news agencies.

The crisis has unravelled in the thick of Russia’s presidential campaign, with Putin expected to win a fourth Kremlin term on Sunday.

On Friday Russia said it could hit back at Britain at “any minute” with its own raft of punitive measures.

Earlier this week the Kremlin indicated it would expel British diplomats in response to London’s move as well as adopt other measures that would “most suit Moscow’s interests.” “All the steps will be well thought out,” Peskov said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Investigative Committee, which reports to Putin, opened a probe into the “attempted premeditated murder” of Skripal’s daughter, a Russian national, which it said had been “carried out in a way that was dangerous to the public.”

At the same time a separate probe was opened into the mysterious death of Nikolai Glushkov, a Russian exile who was found dead at his London home this week.

London’s Metropolitan Police have so far been treating his death as “unexplained”. A spokesman told AFP Friday the police were awaiting the results of a post-mortem.

Putin has barely weighed in on the row, telling a BBC reporter this week: “Sort things out from your side and then we will discuss this with you.”

Russia insists it had no motive to target Skripal with what Britain says was a highly potent Soviet-designed nerve agent called Novichok, in the first such attack in Europe since World War II.

But on Friday, Britain’s opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn poured cold water on claims the Russian state was involved, suggesting instead that “mafia-like groups” could have been responsible.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday the alliance did not want a return to Cold War hostilities with Russia while expressing support for Britain’s stance.

“We don’t want a new Cold War,” he told BBC radio.