Teresa May accused Moscow

The Prime Minister of Great Britain assigned responsibility for Russia for poisoning in Salisbury, ex-GRU employee Sergei Skripal and his daughter. London will announce the response measures this week

*Speech by Teresa May in the House of Communities of the British Parliament, March 12, 2018 *Photo: YouTube.com

Him weapons "beginner"

British Prime Minister Teresa May assigned responsibility for poisoning by neuro-paralytic substance in the English city of Salisbury Double Agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter on March 4 and demanded that Russia have an immediate, until the evening of Tuesday, revealing a program for the production of such substances.

“Now it is obvious that Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by the neuro-paralytic substance of the military purpose of the type that Russia was developing. This is a part of the developments of a group of neuro-paralytic substances called “beginner” ... It is known that Russia had previously produced these substances and is still able to produce them, ”said the Prime Minister, speaking on Monday in parliament.

“Now it is obvious that Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by the neuro-paralytic substance of the military purpose of the type that Russia was developing. This is part of the developments of a group of neuro-paralytic substances called "beginner"

“Given the Russian history of execution of executions approved by the state and our understanding that Russia considers some defectors a legitimate goal for such executions, the government (Britain) came to the conclusion that with a high degree of probability, Russia is responsible for actions against Sergey and Julia Skripal,” May said.

According to her, there are only two versions of what happened in Salisbury a week ago: either it was a direct action of the Russian state against the United Kingdom, or the Russian leadership lost control of its potentially catastrophically destructive substances and allowed them to fall into strangers.

She added that the head of Forein Office summoned the ambassador of the Russian Federation on Monday to himself and demanded that he answer the question of which of these two versions to be and explain how the neuro-paralytic substance made in Russia was brought to Salisbury and how it was applied against the father and daughter of Skripal. According to her, the head of the Foreign office Boris Johnson demanded that the Russian ambassador immediately and completely, until the morning of Tuesday, reveal the Novice Production Production program.

Acts of "Russian aggression"

Teresa May associated this poisoning with other acts of “Russian aggression” in the international arena: with the illegal annexation of Crimea, when for the first time since the Second World War one sovereign state seized the territory of another sovereign state in Europe; with a Russian attack on the Donbass; multiple violation of the air borders of European states; state-organized and supported cyber attacks and cyberspione against other states, including intervention in the elections , with hacker attacks in the Denmark Ministry of Defense and German Bundestag.

“During his last appeal to the parliament, President Putin showed a video schedule of missile launches .. including modeling attacks on the United States with a series of warheads falling on Florida,” the British prime minister said, adding that the Russian parliament allowed the law to kill Russian citizens criticizing Putin’s regime, and reminding the barbaric murder in London Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 using a radioactive substance.

She recalled that Russia promised after the death of Litvinenko assistance in the investigation, but this resulted in the denial of state intervention and the refusal to issue the suspects. After that incident, Britain sent several Russian diplomats, stopped cooperation in the field of security, froze the assets of the suspects and added them to the list of people subject to extradition, complicated the receipt of visas for Russian officials. She also recalled the participation of Britain in sanctions against Russia.

“It was not just a crime against the Skripals. It was a spontaneous and reckless act against the United Kingdom, which threatened the life of the civilian population, ”May said, adding that Britain would not tolerate such things on its territory

“We must now be prepared for much more intense measures. On Wednesday, we will discuss the response of the Russian state in detail (questions stated by the ambassador). If we do not receive a complete and true answer (from Russia), we will assume that these actions were illegal use of force on the part of the Russian state against the United Kingdom. Then I will return to this chamber (representatives) and declare a complete set of measures that we will take in response. This attempt to kill with the use of neuro-paralytic gas as a weapon was not just a crime against the Skripals. It was a spontaneous and reckless act against the United Kingdom, which threatened the life of the civilian population, ”May said, adding that Britain would not tolerate such things on its territory.

Father and daughter Skripal are still in a critical but stable state in a local hospital in Salisbury, where they were on Sunday on March 4. They were found in an unconscious state on a bench near the shopping center of a small English city southwest of London. Still in serious condition are the police officer and another 20 police and ambulance officers, and just civilians receive treatment in the hospital. Visitors to the pub and the restaurant, where the father and daughter visited before they lost consciousness, were recommended to wash their clothes; The restaurant and the pub ordered to wash all the equipment.

The Salisbury Center is blocked from Monday, hundreds of police officers, special services, including specialists in chemical, bacteriological and radiation weapons, participate in the investigation; The army was involved in the work. All week, experts and the media are discussing what can be the response of the British government against the Russian attack.

Possible answer to Moscow

Teresa May spoke in parliament based on the results of the Cobra meeting (emergency government committee gathering in emergency cases), in which key ministers of the government and heads of the British intelligence services, as well as leading specialists and experts involved in this case, participated.

All week, the UK expert community is discussing a possible set of response measures if it is proved that the Russian authorities are involved in the poisoning of the Skripals. Chamma-House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Relations, issued two reports on March 12, which summarize possible measures against Russia and evaluate their effectiveness.

They say that an attack using a neuro-paralytic substance in the English city is not only a test of the real power and capabilities of Britain, but also a check of how much the allies are ready to support the United Kingdom in such a situation.

“Fortunately, whatever the answer of our allies, Britain has an asset that is of great value for Russia: London City. For many years, key Russian market participants could use the services of City - in particular, the London Stock Exchange, as well as to purchase a higher class British real estate for their legal, illegal and even illegal purposes. It is time to turn this source of Russian benefit into a strategic resource of Britain, ”says this report written by experts James Sherr and John Lawf.

They list their proposals: freezing assets, investigation of cases of money laundering and selective cancellation of visas for some people and members of their families - those who support the regime.

In this case, experts propose to abandon measures such as sending diplomats or a boycott of participation in the World Cup in Russia. In their opinion, financial measures are much more effective.

“This will make Moscow really painful, and impulsive and symbolic measures will also not lead,” the authors of the report summarize.