British govt. using poisoning incident to ‘deflect’ attention away from Brexit: Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the British government has implicated Moscow in the poisoning of a former spy in an attempt to “deflect attention” away from difficult negotiations between London and the European Union over Brexit.

“Perhaps it’s clear that London has found itself in a very difficult situation over Brexit negotiations with the European Union,” said the top Russian diplomat during a press conference on Thursday, at a time when London’s ties with its European partners have been badly damaged due to Brexit.

On March 7, British authorities announced that former double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, had been hospitalized after they had been found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in the city of Salisbury. They were reportedly being exposed to a nerve agent.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday that it was “highly likely” that Moscow was behind the poisoning, giving the Kremlin until the end of Tuesday to answer the accusations. 

She further said that a chemical weapon purportedly developed under a clandestine Soviet program, dubbed Novichok, had been used in the poisoning of the agent and his daughter, demanding that Moscow provide details of the so-called program. May further warned that otherwise London would consider the poisoning an attack directed by the Russian government.

Two days later, May announced a set of punitive measures against Russia amid worsening relations between London and Moscow. She also told parliament that London had ordered the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats believed to be involved in espionage-related activities.

PressTV-UK expels 23 Russian diplomats over nerve agent attack

Britain plans to expel 23 Russian diplomats after an alleged chemical agent attack which London has blamed on Moscow.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Lavrov said that the popularity of May’s government “is going downwards,” arguing that she had failed to deliver on her promises following Britain’s decision to leave the bloc after a referendum in 2016. “And organizing a provocation around Sergei Skripal deflects attention,” he added.

Moscow has denied any involvement, and some chemical experts have  said the nerve agent may have been stolen in the aftermath of the collapse of the former Soviet Union, when security at chemical sites was allegedly lax.

Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow would not respond to the British request about chemical agent until a sample of which is provided. London, however, has so far refused to meet Moscow’s demand. He also expressed Moscow’s readiness to assist Britain in the investigation, provided that London meets its own obligations as to how such probes are to be handled.

PressTV-Russia denies any involvement in poisoning ex-spy

The Russian foreign minister says Moscow is "not guilty" in poisoning an ex-double agent in the UK.

Meanwhile, Lavrov vowed that Moscow would “certainly” expel British diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to the UK’s controversial move to send 23 Russians home over the poisoning incident, adding that the move would come “soon.” He further described London’s allegations against Moscow as “boorish and unfounded.”   

Earlier on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it was considering “retaliatory measures” against Britain over accusations that the Russian state was behind the poisoning of Skripal in southern England.

PressTV-Russia ‘considering retaliatory measures against Britain’

Russia says it is considering “retaliatory measures” against Britain, which has threatened to take punitive measures against Moscow over an alleged nerve agent attack in England.

“After the United Kingdom announced unfriendly actions against Russia, retaliatory measures must be taken, as the Russian Foreign Ministry stated yesterday,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. “They are currently under consideration and will be taken in the near future.”

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