PRESS RELEASES AND NEWS
21.02.2019
Embassy Press Officer’s reply to a media question concerning placing Sergey and Yulia Skripal on a missing person listQuestion: How would you comment on the media reports suggesting that Sergey Skripal’s mother has officially requested Russian law enforcement agencies to record her son and granddaughter as missing and initiate a missing person investigation? According to the British side, the UK agencies have not received any official notice from the Russian authorities with regard to placing the Skripals on a missing person list.
Answer: We fully understand the natural concern of Elena Skripal with what has happened to her relatives. The situation is exacerbated by a lack of access to the Russian citizens in violation of international law and the bilateral 1965 Consular Convention. In this case we are unable to officially state that Sergey and Yulia are still alive. We are disturbed by the recent media leaks concerning the worsening health of Sergey Skripal, whose track has been lost since the incident on 4 March 2018. As for Yulia, she was seen only once in May 2018 in a video address which was obviously pre-written by the British secret services. All this indicates that both our nationals are being isolated.
We would like to remind that since the very beginning the competent Russian authorities have turned to the British side via official channels, requesting legal assistance and proposing to establish joint investigation on the Salisbury incident. However, ignoring the norms of international law, the British authorities have denied both the request and the proposal. The Embassy has sent dozens of Notes Verbales and letters to the FCO, the Home Office and the police which were also left unanswered.
Taking into account all the facts, concern of Sergei and Yulia's family as well as their appeal to the Russian law enforcement agencies seems to be fully justified.
LATEST EVENTS
We have taken note of an event that was held in Kiev on August 23 and was entitled a “Crimea Platform Summit.” The stated aim of this political project, developed with active involvement of government experts from the United States, the UK and the European Union and funded by the United States Agency for International Development, is “the de-occupation of Crimea and its reintegration with Ukraine.” The participants involved are just right for this goal – mainly being NATO countries and some international organisations sharing a common delusion that the Crimean Peninsula should be part of the current Ukrainian state and that it can be torn away from the Russian Federation by increasing political and economic pressure on Russia.
We took notice of the new personal sanctions imposed by the UK on the Russian nationals for what is claimed to be ‘their direct responsibility for the poisoning of Alexey Navalny’. It is indicative indeed that sanctions are being rubber-stamped in a process which is completely detached from actual facts and looks like a formality, a way to ‘mark anniversaries’.
August 20 marks one year since the emergency hospitalisation of Russian blogger Alexey Navalny in Omsk - an incident which, through the purposeful efforts of a group of Western states, was raised to the level of an international event, which led to the bringing of unsubstantiated charges against Russia for allegedly using a “chemical warfare agent” on its territory. At the same time, the actions taken by the FRG authorities and their allies over the past 12 months clearly show that that a pre-planned provocation was carried out against our country to discredit the Russian Federation in the eyes of the international community and to damage its national interests.
The United Kingdom positions itself as the benchmark in promotion and protection of human rights while neglecting principles of sovereign equality of States and non-interference in their internal affairs. Teaching others how to behave and repeating trite age-old clichés, London tries to disguise its own problems, including comfortable existence of organizations with neoNazi ideologies, increase in racist acts, discrimination of ethnic minorities in many areas of public life, abuse of powers and use of torture by law enforcement officials. This list is far from exhaustive. Besides, crimes of British soldiers against civilians during military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq remain unpunished.
Question: You had a meeting with freight carriers today. What is the status of the Dubki-Rambinas checkpoint, when will it become operational and, in general, what problems did the carriers share with you? How can you help them?
Sergey Lavrov: I discussed the state of affairs with the Governor and the President of the Association of International Road Carriers {ASMAP). Many issues under review were highly specific and purely technical. As we reiterated today, they are being considered by a special government commission chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov. The next meeting will be held in September. Today's meeting, which made it possible to sum up all our concerns, was quite timely. In a joint effort with our colleagues from the Kaliningrad Region Government and ASMAP, we will summarise these suggestions for further consideration by this commission.
The official London, as represented by Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas Wendy Morton and the UK’s diplomatic mission in Moscow, have chosen to link the non-renewal of the Russian visa and accreditation for BBC Moscow correspondent Sarah Rainsford with “the deteriorating situation with media freedom in Russia,” cynically turning the whole situation on its head. We have to state that these assertions are false.
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.
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