PM: It was Moscow
May blasts spy-slay attempt on UK soil
Prime Minister Theresa May says Britain has concluded it is “highly likely” Moscow is responsible for poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter with a military-grade nerve agent in the UK, calling the attack “indiscriminate and reckless.”
“This attempted murder using a weapons-grade nerve agent in a British town was not just a crime against the Skripals,” May told Parliament Monday as Sergei Skripal, 66, and daughter Yulia, 33, remained hospitalized in critical condition.
“It was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the United Kingdom, putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk, and we will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil.”
May said the substance was identified as a nerve agent known as Novichok, developed by Russia.
Britain gave the Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom a Tuesday deadline to explain whether it “was a direct act by the Russian state” or the result of it having “lost control” of the nerve agent and allowing it to fall into “the hands of others.”
The Skripals were found unconscious on a bench in a shopping district in Salisbury on March 4. Sergei had been living in England since being freed as part of a 2010 US-Russian swap involving sultry spy Anna Chapman, who had been living undercover in New York City.
He had been convicted in Russia of spying for the Brits and sentenced to 13 years’ prison in 2006.
Over the past six years, Skripal’s wife, son and older brother have all died under suspicious circumstances.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry denied May’s accusations, calling her remarks a “circus show.”
But Secretary of State Rex Til- lerson said the United States supports the UK’s findings.
“We have full confidence in the UK’s investigation and its assessment that Russia was likely responsible for the nerve-agent attack,” he said in a statement.
“There is never a justification for this type of attack — the attempted murder of a private citizen on the soil of a sovereign nation — and we are outraged that Russia appears to have again engaged in such behavior.”
Tillerson said the attack adds to a troubling list of acts of Russian aggression.
“From Ukraine to Syria — and now the UK — Russia continues to be an irresponsible force of instability in the world, acting with open disregard for the sovereignty of other states and the life of their citizens,” he said.