PRESS RELEASES AND NEWS
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I. PREAMBLE
1. We, the Heads of State and Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa, met from 25 - 27 July 2018 in Johannesburg, at the 10th BRICS Summit. The 10th BRICS Summit, as a milestone in the history of BRICS, was held under the theme "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution".
Question: How would comment on a new statement of a Foreign Office spokesperson condemning Russia’s “illegal annexation” of Crimea?
Answer:The events in Crimea were preceded by a coup d’état in Kiev supported by the West. It was a blatant violation not only of the Constitution of Ukraine, but also of the agreement of 21 February 2014 between President Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition, mediated by Germany, France and Poland.
In the FCO’s statement Russia was blamed for breaching international law. Let us remind that the coup in Kiev created a direct threat to human rights and physical safety of Russians and Russian-speakers in Crimea. Faced with this situation, in which the people of Crimea was effectively deprived of its right to self-determination within the Ukrainian state, the lawfully elected local authorities decided to hold a referendum where citizens were asked whether they preferred Crimea to join Russia or remain part of Ukraine. With a 83.5% turnout, 96.8% of the voters supported joining Russia.
Q: Charlie Rowley has been recently discharched from hospital and kept in police safe house since. Has the Embassy demanded access to the victim and the investigation of the Amesbury incident?
A: What has happened with the British citizen in Amesbury is beyond the competence of the Embassy and its Consular department. However, the fact that police, politicians and the media repeatedly link the Amesbury incident to the Skripals case persuades the Russian side to continue insisting on access to this investigation which is being held behind the scenes.
Question: The Embassy informed two weeks ago that it had forwarded another Note Verbale to the FCO requesting a response to the two requests of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation for legal assistance in the criminal case related to the murder of the Russian citizen Nikolay Glushkov. Have you received it?
Answer: It has been more than four months since the Russian citizen Nikolay Glushkov died under unexplained circumstances on the British soil. Unfortunately, the Embassy has not received any substantial answer to the seven official requests sent to the FCO by diplomatic channels. The requests by the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation have also been ignored. The Metropolitan Police, to which the Embassy has been referred by the FCO, is yet to reply to our letter of 13 June, where we confirmed our proposal expressed as early as in April for a meeting to discuss the modalities of consultations between representatives of Russian and British law enforcement agencies.
Recent comments by an official spokesperson of the US State Department following a telephone conversation between Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have drawn attention in Moscow.
In a peremptory manner typical of the United States, Russia was alleged to be failing to meet its obligations in southwestern Syria. The reality is exactly the opposite. It was Washington that for many months did nothing to separate the "moderate" opposition from ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists in the southwestern de-escalation zone. As a result of successful actions by the Syrian armed forces with our support, law and order are being restored in southwestern Syria and proper conditions are being created for the people to return to peaceful life.
Q: How will you comment on the statement made by Sir Alan Duncan, the FCO Minister for Europe and the Americas, at the House of Commons on 18 July, condemning Russia of distorting the work of the Council of Europe, in particular, by withholding its budget contributions to the CE?
A: We have noticed a number of speculations regarding the situation within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and Russia’s contributions to the Council of Europe budget. I would like to remind you that the Assembly has restricted the rights of Russian parliamentarians in an attempt to “punish” them for the free choice by people of Crimea to become part of Russia. For three years, the Russian Federation continued to honour its financial commitments to the Council of Europe in full, despite the fact that its representatives were not allowed to fully participate in the work of the Assembly. This could not go on indefinitely.
In 2017, we took the decision to suspend the payment of contributions until the delegation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to PACE is fully and unconditionally restored in its rights. A year has since passed, and this has not happened.
Q.: How would you comment on today’s media reports claiming that the Met Police have allegedly identified two suspected perpetrators of the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury?
A.: We have seen the report by the Press Association saying that investigators believe to have identified the persons who poisoned Sergei and Yulia Skripal by cross-checking CCTV recordings with lists of people who entered and left the United Kingdom around that time.
The Security Minister Ben Wallace has already given assessment to this report by writing in Twitter that it “belongs in the ill informed and wild speculation folder”. In this regard, we would also like to mention the statement of the Met Police on the Salisbury poisoning published by “Daily Mail” on 17 July, according to which “the investigation into the Salisbury attack remains ongoing and we’re not prepared to discuss any lines of enquiry at this stage”.
Question: What could you say about the investigation into the incidents in Salisbury and Amesbury?
Maria Zakharova: We have noticed that Britain has lately modified the tactics of covering the investigation into the Salisbury and Amesbury incidents. While earlier the London police limited themselves to general phrases accompanied by a lot of media leaks and high-level politicised statements, then now they make regular public statements, with politicians referring to the need to wait for police conclusions. Despite insufficient informative value, this creates an illusion of transparency.
Q: Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt insists on Russian state responsibility for downing MH17 flight in Eastern Ukraine. How would you comment on this?
A: Indeed, four years have passed since Malaysia Airlines MH17 flight crashed in Donbass, claiming the lives of 298 innocent passengers from many countries. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of all those who lost their lives.
From the very first day Russia has advocated a thorough and impartial international investigation into this crash. Our country immediately offered all necessary technical and expert assistance.
Instead, the Netherlands did not allow Russia to participate in the Joint Investigative Team (JIT) and opted to pursue a preselected line of investigation, almost entirely ignoring essential information that Russia was providing.
Question: Foreign Office Minister for Europe Sir Alan Duncan has urged Russia to release the “Ukrainian political prisoners” Oleg Sentsov, Volodymyr Balukh and Emir-Huseyn Kuku. How would you comment on this?
Answer: The Embassy has taken note of Sir Alan’s statement, which fails to reflect the real state of affairs. It should be reminded that Oleg Sentsov has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on grave charges of creating a terrorist group and preparing two terrorist acts.
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