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Thursday 15 March 2018

The US backs Britain over Russia spy poisoning


Jonathan Allen, the British deputy permanent representative to the United Nations
Image:Jonathan Allen told the UN Security Council that Britain would stand firmThe United States has said it"stands in solidarity" with the UK over Russia's alleged use of a nerve agent in Salisbury to attack a former spy.
The intervention by the White House follows angry exchanges between British and Russian representatives at an emergency meeting of the UN security Council and the UK's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.
It remains to be seen what, if any, retaliatory action the Kremlin will take.
The statement from the White House said: "The United States stands in solidarity with its closest ally, the United Kingdom.
"The United States shares the United Kingdom's assessment that Russia is responsible for the reckless nerve agent attack on a British citizen and his daughter, and we support the United Kingdom's decision to expel Russian diplomats as a just response."
Former Russian-MI6 double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are still in a critical condition after being exposed to the nerve agent novichok on 4 March in the Wiltshire cathedral city.
Dozens of civilians and emergency services personnel were also exposed.
Russia's representative at the UN Vassily Nebenzia has accused Britain of "propaganda war tools" and having "other motives" than establishing the truth behind the poisoning.
He tweeted that the UK was "dragging" the case to the UN's Security Council, ignoring its international commitments because the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons "will not be convinced by its arguments".
"The authorities of #UK are not interested in finding the truth about the Skripal case, they have other motives. They are using #propaganda war tools to influence an uninformed and impressionable public.
There are no facts, only allegations about the "Russian trace"."
Yesterday Mr Nebenzia crossed swords with the UK's deputy UN ambassador Jonathan Allen during an emeergency Security Council meeting.
Mr Allen asked the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to verify Britain's findings that Moscow was behind the poisonings, a charge that the Russians have denied.
"This was no common crime," he told the Security Council. "It was an unlawful use of force."
Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal
Image:Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia
Without an alternative explanation from Russian authorities about the nerve agent, Mr Allen said, Britain had "no choice but to conclude this was a state-sponsored act against the prohibition and use of chemical weapons and in defiance of international law".
He said the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has been informed about the use of the nerve agent and the UN "are inviting them to independently verify our analysis".
He added: "We are making every effort to expedite this process."
US ambassador Nikki Haley talking to Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia before the meeting began
Image:US ambassador Nikki Haley talking to Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia before the meeting began
Poland, France, the US and Sweden were among the nations whose representatives backed Britain in the discussion.
Mr Nebenzia fought back, saying: "We demand that material proof be provided of the allegedly found Russian trace in this high-resonance event.
"Without this, stating that there is incontrovertible truth is not something that we can take into account."
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia
Image:Vassily Nebenzia said Russia needed to see a sample of the nerve agent
He said there would have been no benefit for Russia in the attack before its hosting of football's World Cup and its own presidential election.
Britain was trying to tarnish Russia and would stoop to any level, he said.
Then he referred to Sherlock Holmes and the hapless Inspector Lestrade, who he described as latching onto the first motive before being overshadowed by Holmes.
The Met Police are not unprofessional, he added, but we could "all benefit from having a Sherlock Holmes with us today".
Officers remove a van from a village six miles away from Salisbury
Image:Officers remove a van from a village six miles away from Salisbury
The meeting came after Britain announced it would expel 23 Russian diplomats, suspend bilateral relations with Moscow, toughen sanctions powers and lead a boycott of dignitaries at this summer's World Cup.
 
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