Russia will be a long-term threat to the whole of Europe, says May
THERESA May will tonight warn EU leaders that Vladimir Putin’s Russia poses a long-term security threat to the whole of Europe.
At an EU Council meeting in Brussels, the Prime Minister is to issue a plea for unity across the bloc in the face of the Russian aggression demonstrated by the nerve agent outrage in Salisbury.
And she will call on the EU and Nato to “stand shoulder to shoulder” in defiance of the “brazen actions” of President Putin.
“The challenge of Russia is one that will endure for years to come,” the Prime Minister is expected to tell EU leaders.
“As a European democracy, the UK will stand shoulder to shoulder with the European Union and Nato to face these threats together,” she will add.
“Russia has shown itself to be a strategic enemy, not a strategic partner,” said one senior Whitehall source.
Diplomats are said to have passed details of the make-up of the Novichok nerve agent used in Salisbury to Britain’s European allies to show the evidence of suspected Russian state culpability in the attack.
British officials have also pointed out to European counterparts that Russian government spokesmen have made 17 different attempts to explain away the allegations including suggesting the victims were attempting suicide, or blaming other countries including Ukraine and Sweden.
At the summit tonight, Mrs May will describe the attack as “attempted murder using an illegal chemical weapon known to be possessed by the Russian regime”, according to a British Government official.
She will say the poisoning was an “indiscriminate and reckless attack” against the UK which put the lives of innocent people at risk.
Members of the international community shared the UK’s assessment that Russia was responsible and had joined the call for a full explanation of the “brazen actions”, the Prime Minister is expected to say. She will point out that the use of a nerve agent was a “clear violation” of the chemical weapons convention and a breach of British and international laws, as well as British values.
Mrs May will warn her European counterparts that the Russian threat does not respect borders, saying: “We are all at risk.”
The Government official said: “We want to work with our EU allies to uphold and protect the international rules-based order to hold Russia to account for this flagrant breach of national laws, to ensure such a heinous crime is never repeated and to protect our shared security in the face of the long-term challenges that Russia poses.”