PRESS RELEASES AND NEWS
31.03.2018
Embassy Press Officer on new questions to the UK concerning the Salisbury poisoningQuestion: 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?
LATEST EVENTS
On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the Treaty of Good Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China, signed on 16 July 2001, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China, hereinafter referred to as the Parties, in order to continue the dynamic development of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction in a new era, in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Treaty, declare as follows:
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the 9th Moscow Conference on International Security in Moscow.
Due to considerable number of requests of foreign nationals living far away from London the Visa Application Centre in Manchester will reopen on 23 June.
President Putin's news conference following Russia-US talks in Geneva.
On the eve of Russian Language Day, which is marked in the Russian Federation annually on June 6 and is timed to coincide with the birthday of Alexander Pushkin, the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, noting the importance of the Russian language for the development of international relations and intercultural dialogue, addresses international parliamentary organisations, parliaments and the public of foreign states with a call to respect and encourage the right of any person to use their native language, including to receive education in it.
Regrettably, the coronavirus infection has prevented us from holding an in-person meeting. I would like to once again express our solidarity with India and the Indian people. We are ready to continue providing assistance in the fight against the pandemic and to promote cooperation in this sphere. It is only through joint efforts that we will overcome the current crisis to the benefit of our nations.
Another representative of military officials in the collective West – UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace – has made a series of anti-Russia statements naming Moscow as the UK's “number one adversary threat”.
The UK’s Defence Secretary is known as one of the most consistent anti-fans of our country in the British government. At the same time, just as before, his assertive anti-Russia rhetoric contains no specificity.
Question: UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that London may consider sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and Yamal-Europe energy pipelines following the Ryanair incident in Belarus, in which Russia could be involved, according to him. What is the Russian Foreign Ministry’s opinion of this statement?
Maria Zakharova: We have seen these statements by UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, and we are aware of his views on the incident with the emergency landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk on May 23.
We have taken note of the fact that our Western partners are talking about “the Russian connection” in their comments on the situation. Barely three days after the incident with Ryanair, our Western partner have presented their conclusions very quickly, unanimously and, as always, without any substantiation, even though the investigation is not over and aviation experts have not offered any explanations yet. I will not repeat our official position right now, but I would like to point out that it is focused on conducting an objective and detailed investigation, unlike our Western partners, who only rely on the “highly likely” principle and are speculating about the non-existent “hand of Moscow.”
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.
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