Both sides must behave responsibly

It is now a month since the Salisbury poisoning of a former spy and still the rhetoric is being ramped up. One might have hoped the passage of time would have allowed for cooler heads to prevail, but instead there has been a succession of increasingly lurid claims from both sides in the row.

Currently no more than a diplomatic dispute – albeit a dangerous one – it appears there are certain figures who would quite happily see the case escalate into something far more sinister.

A retired Russian general was the latest to have his say yesterday, insisting the poisoning could lead to “the last war in the history of mankind”.

Promising an outcome “worse than the Cold War”, Lieutenant-General Evgeny Buzhinsky effectively accused the west of poking Russia in a bid to provoke a reaction.

Westminster was quick to respond, with a Downing Street spokesman insisting it would far rather have the country as a “constructive partner”.

Certainly there is no end in sight to the dispute between the nations, and already many other countries have been encouraged to have their say.

But before it becomes an all-encompassing global conflict, we must remind ourselves that investigations are not yet complete.

It would be unwise indeed for either side to jump to conclusions in such a potentially damaging case.