Poisoned daughter of ex-spy recovering
YULIA Skripal on Thursday made her first public comments since being poisoned in Britain last month with her father, a Russian former double-agent, saying she was getting stronger by the day but shedding no new light on the incident.
Yulia and Sergei Skripal, 66, were found slumped unconscious on a public bench in Salisbury on March 4. Britain said they were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent, the first known use of such a toxin on European soil since World War Two.
London has blamed Russia for the attempted murder while Moscow denies any involvement. The incident has had major diplomatic ramifications, with mass expulsions of Russian and Western diplomats.
“We have told our British colleagues that ‘you’re playing with fire and you’ll be sorry’,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that Moscow had requested.
“We didn’t do it, we’re not guilty,” Mr Nebenzia said.
British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce told the Security Council that Britain’s actions “stand up to any scrutiny” and pledged to keep the 15-member body updated on the inquiry.
“We have nothing to hide but I do fear that Russia might have something to fear,” Ms Pierce said.
Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelley Currie told the council: “We have stated previously and do so again today our firm belief that Russia is responsible for this chemical weapons attack on UK soil”.
The attack has driven Moscow’s relations with the West to a new post-Cold War low, with Britain and its allies, including the United States, expelling about 130 diplomats and the Kremlin responding in kind.
On Wednesday, Russia lost its call for a joint inquiry to be held into the poisoning at a meeting of global watchdog the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Moscow’s ambassador to London Alexander Yakovenko said on Thursday Russia had never made Novichok, the Soviet-era nerve agent which British experts say was the toxin used.
He said the Kremlin would accept the results of OPCW tests but only if there was transparency and they were confirmed by experts from outside Europe and Nato.
While scientists at the Porton Down biological and chemical weapons laboratory near Salisbury have concluded the toxin was Novichok, its chief executive said on Tuesday they had not yet determined whether it was made in Russia.
That prompted even some allies to say London needs to provide more evidence of Russian culpability.
Britain however says there is no plausible explanation other than that Russia was behind the attack and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has accused Russia of running a disinformation campaign.