Russia still in cold for Salisbury, PM tells Putin
In his first meeting with Moscow leader, Johnson condemns ‘destabilising activity that threatens UK’
BORIS JOHNSON has warned Vladimir Putin there will be no thaw in relations between their two countries in the wake of the Salisbury chemical attack.
In his first face-to-face meeting with the Russian president, Mr Johnson told Mr Putin there would “no normalisation” in relations until Russia ended “the destabilising activity that threatens the UK and our allies and undermines the safety of our citizens and our collective security”.
In what was described as a terse meeting, a Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister “was clear there had been no change in the UK’S position on Salisbury”.
It was a “reckless” use of a chemical weapon, a “brazen attempt to murder innocent people” and an attack that must not be repeated, said Mr Johnson.
The attack with a deadly nerve agent on Sergei Skripal, a double agent, and his daughter Yulia was condemned by 28 other countries
The meeting was held during a weekend summit in Berlin, where Mr Johnson announced Britain could help police any future ceasefire in Libya. Russia is backing the forces of Khalifa Haftar, the military commander who is seeking to topple the UN and Turkishbacked government in Tripoli.
Speaking at the summit to resolve the conflict in Libya, Mr Johnson said: “If there is a ceasefire, yes of course, there’s a case for us doing what we do very well, which is sending experts to monitor the ceasefire.”
Last night, the rival parties in the conflict and their international backers agreed that an arms embargo must be respected and strengthened to reach a lasting ceasefire on the ground.
The world powers, including Russia, Turkey and the EU, also agreed to “refrain from interference”, as Mr Johnson warned that the proxy conflict in Libya would only end once the external parties including Russia and Turkey decided they wanted it to stop.
“This has gone on for long enough. It’s a disgrace.” he said. “It’s time for the country to move forward.”
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said the summit participants agreed to “cease operations as long as the ceasefire holds”.
Mr Johnson said he would raise the issue of driving standards of US personnel in the UK with Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, following the death of Harry Dunn in a collision near RAF Croughton, Northants, last year.
‘If there is a ceasefire in Libya, of course there’s a case for us doing what we do very well, which is sending experts to monitor the ceasefire’
Britain and Europe’s history of meddling in Libya has been, on balance, a failure. The 2011 intervention that brought down Muammar Gaddafi led to nearly a decade of instability, a refugee crisis and a jihadist security threat on the EU’S doorstep. Last April, General Khalifa Haftar launched a bid to seize Tripoli from the Un-recognised government. Foreign regimes backed up their proxies: Tripoli receives support from Turkey, General Haftar from Russia. Around 150,000 Libyans have been displaced. For the sake of their own security, but also conscious of their responsibilities, European leaders felt they had to act. They left it long enough.
If the communiqué issued from yesterday’s summit in Berlin is anything to go by, Europe has done some good: foreign powers have agreed to uphold an arms embargo in Libya and end military support for warring factions. How long this will hold remains to be seen, because General Haftar still has his militias. In the contest for strategic control of the region, the powers seem to wander around looking for a battlefield to die on: even Syria has sent 2,000 troops to Libya.
Does the West want to play policeman again? One might argue that it is overstretched as it is, from trying to restore order in the Sahel to containing Iran in the Middle East. The EU has never convinced as a foreign actor because it is divided and has no serious military muscle; Europe’s miscalculated support for the Iran deal shows its limits in embarrassing detail. But if, as Germany has done, member states wish to contribute towards crisis management, the UK has made it clear that it will offer support. There is a lot of cleaning up to do in Libya.