Shock at Putin high-five for murder-row Saudi prince

INTERNATIONAL outcasts Vladimir Putin and Mohammed Bin Salman gave each other a high-five yesterday while other leaders shunned them at the G20 summit.

The Russian president and Saudi crown prince, accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, laughed and joked at the start of the summit while Western premiers kept their distance in public.

Theresa May met Bin Salman hours later for private talks and delivered a “robust” message about the death of the Washington Post columnist. However, she is unlikely to challenge the crown prince directly over his alleged involvement in the murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

The UK has demanded a transparent and credible investigation into the murder and has also called for an end to bloodshed in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting Houthi rebels.

Critics have claimed the UK’s lucrative arms sales to the Gulf kingdom mean the government has been unwilling to take a hard line on the Gulf state.

Concerns

Mrs May will not meet president Putin during her two-day stay in Buenos Aires after the Russian nerve-agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in March plunged relations between London and Moscow into the deep freeze.

Officials said the Prime Minister was meeting the crown prince despite the UK’s concerns over Mr Khashoggi and Yemen because it is “important that we engage and are able to deliver these messages in person”. As she prepared for the 30-minute meeting, Mrs May said: “I am going to speak to the crown prince but it is the relationship we have with Saudi Arabia that enables me to sit down with him and be robust on our views on two issues.

“First of all the terrible killing of Jamal Khashoggi, and the message I will be giving and the message we have given from the UK from the time it happened is that the Saudi Arabians need to ensure that their investigation is transparent, that people can have confidence in the outcome, and that those responsible are held to account.”

Mrs May will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later today to discuss progress in the investigation into Mr Khashoggi’s death.

US President Donald Trump is among world leaders present at the G20 summit. THE UK will build its own satellite defence system after clashes with Brussels, the Prime Minister announced yesterday.

Theresa May has told the EU that Britain will go it alone after being blocked from helping to develop its Galileo system despite handing over £1.2billion to create the network.

Developing an alternative is expected to cost about £5billion and comes with hefty running costs.

The UK’s own global navigation satellite system will help guide drones, run energy networks and be used in smart phone services.

Mrs May said: “I have been clear from the outset that the UK will remain firmly committed to Europe’s collective security after Brexit.

Bar

“But given the EU Commission’s decision to bar the UK from being fully involved in developing all aspects of Galileo it is only right that we find alternatives.

“I cannot let our Armed Services depend on a system we cannot be sure of.”

The row over Galileo’s secure services broke out in April after Brussels said it would restrict UK involvement because it would become a foreign entity after Brexit.

Industry experts were asked to draw up alternatives to Galileo in August and more than 50 British companies have expressed an interest in tendering for work.

Mrs May said the UK had the expertise needed to create the new network. She said: “As a global player with world-class engineers and steadfast allies around the world we are not short of options.”

The system would use the UK’s overseas territories as monitoring stations.

It will also be compatible with the US GPS system, which means there would be back-up in the event of a malicious attack.