ASSASSINS: G.R.U. KILLERS
Message from Moscow or a searching question?
They will not regard it as failure because they tested our security
BRUCE JONES INTELLIGENCE ANALYST WHY did Putin do it? Why quite so blatantly send killers to take out a former Russian spy of little importance?
Was it to send a message to other whistle blowers?: “Forget about speaking to MI6, the Brits are no James Bonds, they can’t protect you.”
This would make some sense. As the Robert Mueller investigation into Russian interference in Donald Trump’s election deepens in the US, as more Russians are turned to tell the truth about Moscow’s Olympic doping scandals and money laundering, no doubt the Kremlin wants to send a message to those inside its own system to keep schtum.
But there could also another reason: to try and gauge whether Britain, so long the vital connection between Europe and the US, is now the weakest link.
If that’s the question Putin is asking – what will he have learned? There’s been a touch of unity in Europe. Germany and others expelled Russian diplomats.
But Putin would have also noted that in her recent keynote speech, the head of the European Commission Foreign Service never even mentioned Russia.
And the US? Trump skirted round the issue at his summit with Putin in Helsinki – before his government threatened stronger sanctions.
Does this mean Putin miscalculated? Not entirely. He’s learned where Trump’s influence ends. Also, the sanctions are so out of kilter with what Europe has done it causes more confusion in the thing once known as “the West”. As it’s this alliance which is being put under pressure, one would hope the UK has prepared a more coordinated response. This is a test for what role Britain can still play in world affairs.