UK secret services accused in Russian spy row
RUSSIA’S FOREIGN minister has accused the UK of “putting all decency aside” over its claims that Moscow was to blame for the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
Sergey Lavrov appeared to suggest that UK secret services may have been involved in the March 4 attack in Salisbury, which he said may have been “beneficial” to the British Government to distract attention from Brexit.
Mr Lavrov said it was “outrageous” that Britain had failed to provide consular access to Yulia Skripal, 33, since it emerged that her condition was improving.
His comments came as the Russian Embassy in London issued a series of what it termed “questions without answer” about the Skripal case – including whether the UK had ever produced the novichok nerve agent believed to have been used in the Salisbury poisoning.
Britain has said that Russian state involvement is the only plausible explanation for the attack, and has led a worldwide reaction involving the expulsion of more than 100 diplomats.
But Mr Lavrov accused Western countries of “playing children’s games”, according to reports from Russian news agency Tass.
“Our Western partners, and I first of all refer to the Great Britain, the United States and some other countries, which are blindly guided by them, put all of their decency aside and resort to bold lies and fake news,” said Mr Lavrov.
“Our responses to all of this are calm and weighted as we keep insisting that all accusations and allegations must be backed with the facts.”
Insisting that Moscow “could not have a possible motive” to attack Mr Skripal – who he said was “pardoned” at the time of a spy swap with the West – Mr Lavrov said there were other possible explanations for the poisoning.
“Experts say this may be rather advantageous for Britain’s special services, which are known for their ability to act with a licence to kill,” he said.
“This can be also beneficial to the British Government which found itself in an inconvenient situation after failing to fulfil its promises to voters on Brexit’s conditions.”
According to news agency Tass, Russia’s top diplomat said: “I want to reiterate that Russia has no relation to the Skripals’ poisoning, but we are very interested – probably more than anyone else – in establishing the truth about our citizens’ fate.” Mr Lavrov said he hoped that Mr Skripal would recover in the same way as his daughter.