Macron finally backs May (with US and Merkel)
The world was on the brink of a new cold war last night as Donald Trump, angela Merkel and emmanuel Macron accused russia of ‘an assault on UK sovereignty’.
The leaders of the Us, Germany and France joined Theresa May in a strong statement that blamed Moscow for the nerve agent attack in salisbury that left former spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia fighting for their lives.
Whitehall sources said the joint statement by the ‘Quad’ of Western powers was the first of its kind since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The four leaders said there was ‘no plausible alternative explanation’ for the use of the russian nerve agent Novochok in the Wiltshire city, saying it fitted ‘a pattern of earlier irresponsible russian behaviour’.
They added: ‘This use of a militarygrade nerve agent, of a type developed o by russia, constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in europe since the second World War.
‘It is an assault on UK sovereignty and any such use by a state party is a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and a breach of international law. It threatens the security of us all.’
President Macron appeared to waver on Wednesday when his spokesman suggested more proof was needed to establish russia’s guilt. But yesterday, after a second call from Mrs May, the elysee Palace said France was certain russia was behind the attack and would be announcing its own measures in the coming days. Paris is said to be outraged by the Kremlin’s decision to deploy a nerve agent in europe.
France’s initial muted reaction was in line with Mr Macron’s efforts to rebuild links with Vladimir Putin. his
‘Assault on UK sovereignty’
spokesman had said: ‘Once the elements are proven, then the time will come for decisions to be made.’
The Us yesterday announced its own sanctions against 19 russians linked to the Putin regime. The measures were related to meddling in the Us elections, but the timing appeared to be designed to add weight to Western disapproval of Moscow’s actions.
President Trump said he was in ‘deep discussions’ with Mrs May about tackling the russian threat. The united response seemed to knock the Kremlin off its stride, with a tit-for-tat expulsion of British diplomats failing to materialise.
Mrs May, who yesterday visited salisbury for the first time since the attack, said: ‘ What is important in the international arena... is that allies are standing alongside us and saying this is part of a pattern of activity that we have seen from russia in their interference, their disruption that they have perpetrated across a number of countries in europe.’
The PM’s national security adviser, sir Mark sedwill, who briefed Nato allies in Brussels yesterday, said the military alliance ‘stands united’ with Britain. sir Mark said: ‘From syria to salisbury, Crimea to cyberspace, russia consistently flouts the norms of international behaviour.’
he added that the PM’s response included measures to dismantle russian’s intelligence network.
Downing street yesterday said plans were in hand to provide a sample of the nerve agent used in the salisbury attack for analysis by the independent Organisation for the prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the use of Novochok, which was developed by the soviet Union, appeared to be designed to send a message to potential dissidents.