The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Trump suggests Russia to blame
US backing comes after Secretary of State sacked
President Trump appeared to back the British Government in the row with Moscow over the Salisbury nerve gas attack, saying: “It sounds to me like it would be Russia based on all of the evidence they have.”
He was questioned after sacking Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had strongly supported the UK.
The President told reporters outside the White House: “Theresa May is going to be speaking to me today. It sounds to me like they believe it was Russia and I would certainly take that finding as fact.”
The President, who initially avoided blaming the Kremlin over the assassination attempt against former double agent Sergei Skripal, had announced on Twitter that Mr Tillerson would be replaced by CIA director Mike Pompeo.
The Washington Post reported that the decision was made on Friday and Mr Trump said he and Mr Tillerson, who had reportedly once called the President a ‘moron’, had been “talking about this for a long time” and had disagreed on issues like the Iran deal.
But with the Trump camp’s links with Moscow facing continued scrutiny, the timing of the announcement prompted questions about the President’s support for the UK in the row with Russia.
The news came as the international community rallied around Britain after the first use of this kind of weapons- grade nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War.
A huge police inquiry was launched after Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on March 4. They remain in a critical condition.
Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, part of the initial police response, is in a serious but stable condition.
Last night Russia failed to meet Theresa May’s midnight deadline to account for how a Russian-produced nerve agent could have been deployed in Salisbury and will not do so unless Britain agrees to send Moscow samples of the nerve agent used.
The country’s embassy in the UK fired off seven tweets in which it said Britain must comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention for a joint investigation and warned the threat of sanctions would “meet with a response”.