PUTIN RAISES THE STAKES
Kremlin defies May’s midnight ultimatum and warns Britain: Don’t threaten a nuclear state
RUSSIA last night issued a chilling warning to Britain not to threaten a nuclear power.
As Theresa May prepared to unveil retaliatory measures against Moscow, the Kremlin refused to explain how its former spy Sergei Skripal was poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent in Britain.
Russian embassy staff in London warned: ‘Any threat to take punitive measures against Russia will meet with a response. The British side should be aware of that.’
Moscow said it would not comply with a deadline of midnight last night to answer Britain’s questions about the poisoning outrage in Salisbury ten days ago.
The Russian foreign ministry warned against making ultimatums, reminding the UK about Vladimir Putin’s speech boasting of his strengthened nuclear arsenal.
The defiant response means that – with the backing of the US, Germany and France – Mrs May is now heading toward a showdown with President Putin and his regime.
The Prime Minister is today expected to impose tough sanctions against Moscow, including booting out Russian
diplomats and seizing the assets of Mr Putin’s cronies. As relations between the two countries hit their lowest point since the Cold War:
Nikolai Glushkov, the right-hand man of Vladimir Putin’s ‘personal enemy number one’, was found dead at his London home, reportedly with ‘strangulation’ marks;
Whitehall sources claimed that Mr Skripal was poisoned by the deadly nerve agent Novichok smeared on the door handle of his red BMW;
US President Donald Trump was said to be ‘with the UK all the way’ and demanding ‘consequences’ after speaking to the PM;
Pressure mounted for a co-ordinated World Cup boycott as MPs, football dignitaries and foreign nations including the Ukraine intervened to call for action;
Russia threatened to expel all British media if its television channel RT is shut down in the UK;
Military pressure on the Prime Minister to act tough ramped up, with a senior British officer claiming Russia continued to ‘mock the world’;
Britain’s ambassador in Moscow, Laurie Bristow, was summoned to the Kremlin by the Russian foreign ministry;
Home Secretary Amber Rudd revealed that 14 deaths on UK soil are to be reinvestigated by the police and MI5 after claims of Russian involvement.
On Monday Mrs May gave a damning statement to MPs in which she said it was highly likely that Moscow was responsible for the use of a nerve agent of a type produced by Russia against Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4.
Russia last night refused to respond to the PM’s demands that it explain how this happened despite her warnings that an inadequate explanation would force Britain to take retaliatory action.
Mrs May will today hold talks with her ministers and security chiefs at the National Security Council before updating the Commons on the investigation and her next steps. Britain’s Nato allies and the EU could mount a collective response, such as shaming Russia for its actions or deploying more troops on its borders.
Mrs May is facing pressure to look again at England’s participation in this summer’s World Cup in Russia, which Mr Putin hopes to exploit for propaganda purposes.
The Russian embassy in London issued a series of seven chilling tweets last night, in which it said: ‘Moscow will not respond to London’s ultimatum until it receives samples of the chemical substance to which the UK investigators are referring.
‘Any threat to take punitive measures against Russia will meet with a response. The British side should be aware of that. The incident appears to be yet another crooked attempt by the UK authorities to discredit Russia.’ Meanwhile, Russian foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said: ‘Everyone should understand, that after what President Putin said in his state of the nation address, no one can go into the parliament of his country and say “I’m giving Russia 24 hours”.’
Sources said this was an allusion to Mr Putin’s state-of-the-nation speech on March 1, in which he boasted of Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Mr Putin smirked when he was asked by the BBC whether Russia was responsible for the poisoning.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov insisted that Moscow was not to blame and said his country would cooperate with Britain on the investigation only if it received samples of the nerve agent.
He added: ‘Russia is not guilty. Russia is ready to cooperate according to the Chemical Weapons Convention, if Britain takes the trouble and condescends to carry out its international obligations according to the same document.’ Britain’s allies, led by the US, responded with condemnation of
‘Continuing to mock the world’
Moscow and support for the UK after the PM spelt out the evidence against the Kremlin. Following a call with Mrs May, Mr Trump said the Kremlin must provide ‘unambiguous answers’ on how a Russian-developed poison was used in England.
The White House said: ‘The two leaders agreed on the need for consequences for those who use these heinous weapons in flagrant violation of international norms.’
Mrs May was also assured of the backing of Germany and France in calls to German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron.
And Britain’s Major General Felix Gedney tweeted: ‘Russian leadership continues to mock the world with complete disregard for international law, ethics and moral conduct. They must not be allowed to derail the international community fight against terrorism.’