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?
Question: Speaking at the National Cyber Security Centre’s CYBERUK conference on 12 May 2021, the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that ‘states like Russia’ have a responsibility to prosecute criminals operating from their territory, ‘not shelter them’. How would you comment on this? Answer: The Embassy has on multiple occasions commented unfounded accusations of numerous ‘sins’ in cyberspace made against our country. It is disappointing that the British authorities keep using Russia as a negative example, while having no actual grounds for this. Over the past few years we have repeatedly suggested to the UK, as well as to the USA and other countries, to develop professional cooperation to tackle the issues arising in this field... The UK prefers resounding speeches and vague ‘sheltering criminals’ insinuations.
The Embassy has no comment to make on the substance of the allegations against HRH Prince Michael of Kent made in the recent media publications. Prince Michael is well known in Russia as a champion of Russian-British friendship and cooperation. He has immensely contributed to developing human, cultural and economic ties between the two countries, including by serving as the Patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce. In this capacity, His Royal Highness has maintained a wide range of contacts with Russian counterparts at various levels.
The Embassy expresses sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the tragic events in School №175 in Kazan on 11 May 2021, and wishes of a speedy recovery to everyone who was injured. A Book of Condolence is open at the Embassy's Consular Section. You can also send your message to: condolences@rusemb.org.uk.
Question: What impact have the sanctions had on the state of relations between Russia and the West?
Maria Zakharova: Unfortunately, the growing use of politically motivated, unilateral restrictive measures by a number of Western countries, primarily the United States, has become a reality of our time. We increasingly view the sanctions against Russia as a “gesture of despair” and a manifestation of the local elites’ inability to accept the new reality, abandon the stereotypes of their bloc-based thinking, and recognise Russia's right to independently determine its path of development and build relationships with its partners.
In terms of discussion of the issue of current implementation of the Treaty on Open (OST) Skies, the Russian Delegation would like to announce the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia on the situation with regard to the Treaty on Open Skies.
On April 21, Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy Bart Gorman was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was handed a note saying that 10 US Embassy employees in Moscow had been declared persona non grata. These people have been ordered to leave the Russian Federation before the end of the day on May 21.
We consider the FCDO statement of 15 April on “malign activity by Russian intelligence services in cyberspace” as nothing but an attempt to play along with the US, which as usually try to put a blame on Russia while obviously failing to ensure their own cyber security.
Question: Newly appointed to lead the inquest into the death of Dawn Sturgess, Baroness Hallet has announced her plans to examine the Russian state’s involvement in poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury as part of the inquest. Any comments?
Answer: We see it as a confirmation of our earlier conclusion that the situation with regard to these tragic events would evolve according to the Litvinenko Case scenario. Regular investigation and regular use of existing international legal instruments (since there have been Russian nationals affected) is being substituted with a quasi-judicial procedure. It does not formally pertain to the incident in Salisbury as such, yet would undoubtedly be used to support again and again the groundless accusations against Russia made by the British authorities.
On 10 March 2021, the Embassy undertook a demarche to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regarding the leaked FCDO-related documents that reveal a large-scale campaign being performed by the UK Government aimed at exercising systematic influence on the Russian-language media space.
Three years have now passed since the highly publicized incident in Salisbury. So far we have learnt little on what really happened. The British authorities laid the blame on Russia for an alleged use of chemical weapons on the British soil. Such a serious accusation however was not backed by any facts, proof or other sort of relevant information. Being ungrounded, it cannot be considered credible.
Tweet Follow @russianembassy