Embassy Press Officer on new questions to the UK concerning the Salisbury poisoning
Question: On Friday, the Embassy made public a list of 27 questions that Russia had asked Britain in the light of the Salisbury poisoning. Is this a closed list, or are there further questions?
Answer: Of course, with new information coming in, new questions appear. Today, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published a number of fresh questions to the UK. They are as follows:
1) Why has Russia been denied consular access to the two Russian nationals, Sergei and Yulia Skripal, that have become crime victims in the British territory?
2) What specific antidotes were administered to Mr and Ms Skripal, and in which form? How were those antidotes available for the medical staff on the site of the incident?
3) On what grounds has France been involved in technical cooperation with regard to the investigation of an incident in which Russian nationals had suffered?
4) Has the United Kingdom informed the OPCW of France’s involvement in the investigation?
5) How is France relevant to the incident with two Russian nationals in the UK?
6) What British procedural rules allow a foreign state to be involved in a domestic investigation?
7) What evidence has been passed to France for studying and/or for a French investigation?
8) Were French experts present when biological material was taken from Mr and Ms Skripal?
9) Have French experts studied biologial material taken from Mr and Ms Skripal, and at which laboratories?
10) Does the UK possess the results of the French investigation?
11) Have the results of the French investigation been passed to the OPCW Technical Secretariat?
12) On the basis of which characteristics (“markers”) has it been ascertained that the substance used in Salisbury “originated from Russia”?
13) Does the UK possess reference samples of the military-grade poisonous substance that British representatives identify as “Novichok”?
14) Has the substance identified by British representatives as “Novichok” or analogous substances been researched, developed or produced in the UK?
We have taken note of the statement by the Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, congratulating Volodymyr Zelenskiy on being elected President of Ukraine. In his statement Mr Hunt said the UK interest in supporting Ukraine was due to the country’s position “on the front-line of Russia’s challenge to the rules-based international system”. The Foreign Secretary also mentioned that Ukraine’s “stability is essential for Europe’s security”. “Cooperation on defence and security” was identified as the first among the areas of future cooperation between London and Kiev.
Novgorod, is one of the oldest cities in Russia with population around 230 thousand people. The Sofia First Chronicle makes initial mention of the city in 859, when it was already a major Baltics-to-Byzantium station on the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. Novgorod is also traditionally considered to be the cradle of Russian statehood.
Question: How would you comment on the New York Times report, reprinted by British media, alleging that CIA Director Gina Haspel persuaded President Trump to take strong measures against Russia following the Salisbury incident by showing him photos of children exposed to chemical poisoning and those of ducks killed by nerve agent? Answer: As everyone else, we learned of the existence of such photos from the New York Times piece. The information on hospitalised children and killed ducks is surprising. The British authorities and media have indeed reported that some members of the public, including children, underwent medical checks as a precautionary measure. However, none of them had any signs of poisoning. Similarly, it has never been reported that ducks or any other animals were killed (apart from Mr Skripal’s pets, incinerated in the Porton Down laboratory for unknown reasons).
Question: How could you comment on the Report of the House of Commons Defence Committee, which blames Russia for the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty?
President Putin sent a message to President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron personally expressing sympathy to the French leader and the entire French nation over the tragic aftermath of the fire at Notre Dame de Paris.
Question: According to reports, Duchess of Abercorn, who served as Russia’s Honorary Consul in Northern Ireland, deceased in December 2018. Are there any plans to appoint a new honorary consul in that region? Answer: The issue of appointing a new Honorary Consul in Northern Ireland, where neither the Embassy in London nor the Consulate General in Edinburgh can effectively exercise consular functions due to objective geographical reasons, is under consideration.
We noted a Twitter post of April 10 by UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, stating that it’s been over a year since Russia used the lethal Novichok agent in Salisbury, yet London hears nothing but denials from Russia, which allegedly objected to Novichok being added to the list of substances controlled by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). It gets more cynical as you read on: “If they love Novichok so much, other countries will rightly worry about the next Salisbury.”
More than a year has passed since former Deputy Director General of Aeroflot Nikolay Glushkov, a national of the Russian Federation, mysteriously died in London. One would argue that the investigators have had plenty of time to present their lines of inquiry. However, the crime continues to be passed over in silence by law enforcement officials, politicians and the media.
Just now, we watched online as the British police detained WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. We noted that the operation was conducted in the office of the Ecuadorian diplomatic mission with the embassy’s approval. Judging from the format of the operation, a blatant and brutal neglect of the detainee’s human dignity took place. We hope that all Julian Assange’s rights will be observed.
We are both surprised and not at the convening of an emergency meeting on Venezuela, all the more with participation of the Vice-President of the United States, whom you are always glad to welcome in this room. It is a pity he did not want to listen to other Members of the Council share their views on the situation in Venezuela. Today we watch just another act in a multi-act drama that attempts to change the regime in Venezuela. The situation in Venezuela does not pose a threat to international peace and security, whereas external actors pose a direct threat to peace and security inside Venezuela. This is what we have just heard.
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