UK staged Salisbury assassination to rally anti-Russia support
The UK's reluctance to divulge information concerning the poising of former spy Sergei Skripal points to the fact that they are actually behind the assassination, says Moscow's ambassador to Britain.
The March 4 poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury has triggered the worst diplomatic conflict between London and Moscow in years.
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The UK accuses the Russian government of using a military grade nerve agent against the former spy and, according to Moscow, is stonewalling all attempts by Moscow to learn details of the ongoing investigation into the incident.
“We have very serious suspicion that this provocation was done by British intelligence,” said Alexander Yakovenko on Sunday.
He noted that Moscow has no direct proof of this suspicion, but the UK's behavior constitutes strong circumstantial evidence towards it being the actual culprit behind the incident.
Yakovenko noted that details of UK's investigations into the deaths of several high-profile entities with Russian connections have been withheld from the public.
For example the results of investigations involving former Russian intelligence officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, fugitive Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky and Russian whistleblower Aleksandr Perepilichny, he added.
Yakovenko added that Britain had gained both short-term and long-term benefits from the attack. The short-term gain is that Theresa May’s administration managed to sideline its failures to negotiate more constructive terms for exiting the EU.
The long-term benefit is that London bolstered it position in the ongoing confrontation between the West and Moscow.
"The Britons are claiming a leading role in the so-called containment of Russia. To win support from the people and the parliament for this containment of Russia, a serious provocation was required. And the Britons may have done a really savage one to get this support,” noted Yakovenko.
“I am sure Russia will not allow the Britons to escape the legal field. They will have to give answers,” he added.
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