Poisoned Relations - The Salisbury Spy Scandal Was a Deliberate Attempt to Sour Russia/UK Dialogue
Today Russian MFA declared a resolute protest to the UK Ambassador due to London's allegations about Moscow's involvement in the poisoning of Sergey Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, UK. A day ago UK PM, Theresa May, delivered an ultimatum to Russia, which expires this evening. What was the reaction in Moscow, and what is this mysterious substance that Skripal was poisoned with?
Alexey Petrov and Alexander Khabarov, will tell us. Starting with London.
After Salisbury, political life in England s poisoned. Today, another suspicious package was found in the Parliament building. After checking it, police said that its contents aren't dangerous. But, one person was sent to the hospital just in case. In such an agitated state, London puts on Russia all sorts of sins, including Syrian gas attacks.
Boris Johnson, British MFA rep: "The way they reacted to what happened in the US made it clear that this is Vladimir Putin's and his regime's model of behavior, and you see his reckless support of using chemical weapons everywhere, from Syria to Wiltshire streets in our country".
Neither Russia nor the Syrian government had anything to do with these attacks. But, right now anything goes in the UK government. Tomorrow, an announcement of anti-Russian sanctions is expected from Theresa May.
The harder, the better, considers the weak and unpopular PM in the country. Expecting a new speech by the PM, the British press discusses possible sanctions that Theresa May will bring down on Russia. The possible list is long, from expelling diplomats to cyber warfare. Newspapers write about the planned cyber attacks, as they say about "the tools of Kremlin propaganda" and look forward to freezing of funds, and even seizing Russian oligarchs' properties in England. It turns out that the ruling conservatives last year received donations of 800,000 GBP from the same oligarchs, but party functionaries easily took advantage of this "toxic" asset.
The MIA rep, Amber Rudd, is going to review the circumstances of the mysterious deaths of businessmen and immigrants, connected with Russia. The names of Boris Berezovsky and his partner Badri Patarkatsishvili are mentioned.
Amber Rudd: "As for other investigations, there will come a time, when we will need to make sure one more time, and check them with police and detectives, but for now, this investigation is a priority".
But, the MIA rep has nothing to report about the most important investigation, the one going on in Salisbury.
Alexander Khabarov, Ilya Mordyukov. From London — Vesti.
The answer to Theresa May's ultimatum from Smolensk Square did not take long.
Sergey Lavrov, MFA rep: "Before giving ultimatums to report to the British government within 24 hours, it's better to obey one's own obligations under international law, in this case, the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. And in general, speaking of manners, it must be remembered that the era of colonialism has long ago become a thing of the past".
The UK Ambassador was called to the MFA. Here, Laurie Bristow arrives to the building on Smolensky Square, press follows the diplomat. When he departs, sharp phrases.
Laurie Bristow: "We discussed the events in Salisbury and the statement of the PM, Theresa May. I conveyed her statement, that we are waiting for a response from the Russian government until the end of today about how this substance ended up in Salisbury".
However, Bristow now must report to London on the strong protest he received from the Russian MFA. The actions of the British authorities are provocative, this was noted on Smolensk Square.
"As soon as there were rumors inflated by virtually all representatives of the British leadership to the fact that the substance produced in Russia was involved in the poisoning of Skripal. We immediately inquired for an official request and access this substance, so that our experts could analyze and compare it in relation to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. And, we also demanded in the same request to be given access to all facts connected with the investigation, considering that one of the victims is Yulia Skripal, who is a Russian citizen. These absolutely legitimate demands from the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons received a vague answer, which amounts to the fact that these legitimate demands were refused to us".
There's not a lot of information about the substance the British named The Newcomer. According to some sources, the development began in the 1960s, according to other sources, later. We are talking about a number of poisonous substances, which allegedly were created in different laboratories of the Soviet Union. In the early 1990s, work in this area was stopped.
Anton Utkin, Chemical Weapons Expert: "The formula, as I understand, was published in the media. However, I didn't hear that any country confirmed that the toxicity of this compound, and the effectiveness is higher than that of regular poisonous substances. The Russian arsenal never had any substances that were called Newcomer, or something like that. Together with my team, I was engaged in the destruction of Russian chemical weapons, and I can declare this with full confidence".
Data on the so-called Newcomer was leaked to the press in 1992 by the military chemist Vil Mirzayanov, a former employee of the State Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology. Mirzayanov argued that the USSR, in violation of international conventions, continued to produce and test 3rd generation chemical weapons. The "Foliant" program, to develop new types of chemical weapons allegedly took off in 1973. The goal was the creation of new nerve agent poison substances, which were supposed to exceed the toxicity of the known foreign and domestic counterparts.
Soon, Mirzayanov moved to the US, where he still resides.
Vil Mirzayanov: "I'm a physical chemist, I did this work for 26 years. I participated in every step of researching chemical substances, and in creating and testing of chemical weapons".
Mikhail Lyubimov, Writer, Diplomat, KGB veteran: "He lives in the US. So he can easily recreate it, he knows the recipes as if it's a secret and so on, that's all nonsense".
Experts confirm that it's almost impossible to trace the poisonous substance to a specific country. Moreover, in order to confidently name the type of substance, its sample is needed. Does this mean it's at the disposal of the British special services? This is one of the principal issues. British special services may be behind the attempt on a double agent's life, considers the former FSC director, Sergey Stepashin. According to him, British intelligence "would profit by arranging provocations before the Presidential elections in Russia and the FIFA World Cup".
This point of view is shared by other specialists.
Nikolai Kovalev, Former FSC Director: "Everyone is asking us, Russia, for an explanation of how and why this happened. Ask your own special services and law enforcement agencies how it turned out that they all missed it completely. How did it happen that in Salisbury, where one of the largest chemical laboratories is located, and makes chemical weapons, the whole world knows about this, why is the control for moving radioactive substances so weak there?"
"Look, they didn't even have time to finish the investigation, but already, statements from Johnson, then May's statement. And, in such insolent tones, giving us an ultimatum. So, of course, this is a planned British action. Because everything is happening too smoothly and too obviously".
And, judging by the possible involved resources, we shouldn't count on an early resolution.
Alexey Petrov, Tatiana Stepovaya, Ilya Baev, and Anna Kolk. Vesti.