PM warns Putin over Salisbury

BORIS Johnson tackled Vladimir Putin yesterday over the Salisbury novichok attack – warning that such aggression on British soil ‘must not be repeated’.

The PM took the Russian premier to task over the attack in 018 that led to the death of a British woman and hospitalised four other people.

The leaders had one-to-one talks at a summit in Berlin to discuss the crisis in Libya, with Mr Johnson warning Mr Putin there was no prospect of re-starting normal relations with Moscow until it stopped ‘undermining the safety of our citizens and collective security’.

He also accused Russia of fuelling Libya’s bitter civil war by providing support to one of its two warring factions.

A No10 spokesman said: ‘He was clear there had been no change in the UK’s position on Salisbury, which was a reckless use of chemical weapons and a brazen attempt to murder innocent people on UK soil. He said such an attack must not be repeated. The Prime Minister said they had a responsibility to address issues of international security including Libya, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

‘The Prime Minister said there will be no normalisation of our bilateral relationship until Russia ends the destabilising activity that threatens the UK and our allies and undermines the safety of our citizens and collective security.’

World leaders met in Berlin to clinch a peace deal in Libya, where civil war has raged for eight years, to stop it becoming a ‘second Syria’ and sparking a migration crisis.

But the leaders of Libya’s two warring factions – Fayez al-Sarraj, head of Tripoli’s UNrecognised government, and warlord Khalifa Haftar – stopped short of agreeing a long-term ceasefire.