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British PM urges EU unity against Russia as Kremlin slams UK

March 22, 2018
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May attend a European leaders summit at the European Council in Brussels on Thursday. — AFP
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May attend a European leaders summit at the European Council in Brussels on Thursday. — AFP

BRUSSELS — British Prime Minister Theresa May urged European Union leaders on Thursday to unite and condemn Russia for not respecting international rules or borders, while Moscow slammed the UK as untrustworthy in its investigation of the poisoning of a former spy.

Amid heated words and frosty relations between London and Moscow, May accused Russia of staging “a brazen and reckless attack against the United Kingdom” by poisoning Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a nerve agent March 4 in the English city of Salisbury.

She said: “It is clear that the Russian threat doesn’t respect borders, and indeed the incident in Salisbury was part of a pattern of Russian aggression against Europe and its near neighbors, from the western Balkans to the Middle East.”

Britain blames Moscow for the attack that used a military-grade nerve agent and has called Russia a growing threat to Western democracies. Russia has fiercely denied the accusations.

Both nations have expelled 23 of each other’s diplomats in a feud that shows no signs of cooling.

Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, hit back on Thursday, saying his country “can’t take British words for granted,” and accusing the UK of having a “bad record of violating international law and misleading the international community.”

“History shows that British statements must be verified,” he told reporters in London, demanding “full transparency of the investigation and full cooperation with Russia” and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Britain says it is complying with the international chemical-weapons watchdog over the March 4 attack on Skripal — a former Russian intelligence officer convicted of spying for the UK — and his daughter.

Experts from the OPCW have come to Britain to take samples of the nerve agent that has left the Skripals in critical condition.

May wants nations at the EU summit in Brussels to make a strong statement against Russian President Vladimir Putin. EU foreign ministers have already expressed their “unqualified solidarity” with Britain, but May will try to swing the 27 other EU leaders behind an explicit condemnation of Russia.

European politicians and leaders vary in how far they are willing to go in blaming Putin’s Kremlin.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, whose former Soviet state shares a border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, offered her full backing to Britain and said she was weighing whether to expel Russian diplomats from her country over the Salisbury attack.

German politician Manfred Weber, leader of the biggest group in the European Parliament, said Putin “wants to destabilize the European idea, European cooperation, and that’s why we don’t have to be naive, we have to be strong.”

But Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was more cautious. He said: “We have to express our solidarity to the UK, to the British people, but at the same time we need to investigate.”

Putin’s office released a statement Thursday saying that Tsipras had called Putin to congratulate him on his re-election and discuss issues, including the Salisbury poisoning.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, a former criminal lawyer, said he wanted to hear what May had to say.

“First I listen, and then I take a decision,” he said.

EU Council President Donald Tusk is seen by the UK as being supportive, saying this week that Europe must “reinforce our preparedness for future attacks.”

But British officials are irked that another EU chief, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, congratulated Putin on his victory in Sunday’s presidential election in Russia. Election monitors say the Russian presidential vote did not take place on a level playing field since state media gave so much coverage to Putin.

The Salisbury attack has sent relations between London and Moscow to Cold War-style lows. — AP


March 22, 2018
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