PRESS RELEASES AND NEWS
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The Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations 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 on 4 June 2018 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Your Royal Highness,
Mr Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am glad to welcome all the participants of the annual Business Forum of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce.
It is an honor to address this important economic conference. Definitely, its significance is increasing as we experience political and economic turbulence at different levels.
Q.:Today is exactly three months since Mr Sergei Skripal and Ms Yulia Skripal were poisoned in Salisbury. How would you assess the current state of cooperation with British authorities on this matter?
A.: Unfortunately, it is impossible to assess cooperation with the UK on the Salisbury poisoning as it is simply non-existent.
Q: Today “PoliticsHome” reported a recent briefing for MPs’ staff heading to the FIFA World Cup in Russia in private capacity. Parliamentary staff were told to be on high alert and ordered to leave work mobile phones and laptops at home. They were also advised that their hotel rooms would likely be searched by Russian intelligence agents. Do you have a comment?
A: We can only regret that authorities in Britain are still seeking to stoke tension around the forthcoming World Cup in Russia – despite British police praising cooperation with the Russian colleagues ahead of the tournament. The briefing at the Parliament resembles “commissions on trips abroad” which existed in the Soviet Union, even though it was rather based on the advice of a biased MP for Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson prior to his visit to Moscow last December.
Q: What is the position of Russia regarding the UK request to convene a Special Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention?
A: We strongly oppose this initiative of a number of Western countries. This idea is untimely and harmful to the OPCW.
The suggested agenda item – “Support for the Global Ban on the Use of Chemical Weapons” is absolutely misleading. The initiators of the Conference are doing little to conceal the fact that they aim to use it for stoking anti-Syrian and anti-Russian sentiment over the alleged use of toxic chemicals in Syrian Douma and in Salisbury. They are so anxious to press ahead with their narrative that they don’t even bother to wait for the results of the OPCW investigation of the incident in Douma and the UK police investigation of the Salisbury incident. Solid evidence is, sadly, not in demand.
Q: How could you comment the staged “murder” of the Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko in Kiev?
A: As you know, the Russian MFA has already commented on this anti-Russian provocation, aimed to mislead the world community, which showed vivid concern over the alleged murder of a media personality in Ukraine. Unfortunately, we have seen quite a few staged incidents recently, proactively supported not only by the discredited West-backed Kiev regime. For example, the British authorities were quick to publicize the false allegations of chemical attacks by the Syrian Government in Khan Sheikhun and Douma.
Question: What is the reason for the delay of the inquest into the death of Alexander Perepilichny, previously scheduled for 29 May?
Answer: The Embassy is closely following the twists and turns of the inquest into the death of a Russian businessman A.Perepelichny, which has been conducted since 2012.
The current delay has been explained by the fact that the judge is waiting for the concluded Home Office review into the 14 deaths allegedly linked to the Russian state, including that of Mr Perepilichny. The second reason is the British side’s ongoing negotiations with the US Government about the disclosure of information relevant to the Coroner’s investigation, as well as consideration of public interest immunity applications lodged by the UK Government in regards to these matters.
Question: How could you comment on the statements of the Salisbury District Hospital staff on BBC “Newsnight” concerning the clinical care provided for Sergei and Yulia Skripal?
Answer: We have carefully studied the statements of the British medical staff who treated Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Unfortunately, they have still not provided any answers to our questions.
We have to note yet again that the Embassy is learning the details of the treatment of the two Russian citizens from media reports and not from British authorities, despite having filed many official requests; not to mention that this is happening almost three months since the incident. Moreover, the question about the use of antidote in the treatment previously raised with British authorities remains unanswered – the medics carefully walked around it saying only that they had used “combinations of drugs” and received advice from the Porton Down secret chemical weapons laboratory.
Q: Could you comment on the UK Sanctions and Anti-Money-Laundering Act (SAMLA) which has been recently enacted?
A: First, it must be stressed that money laundering, corruption, tax evasion and other related cross-border crimes constitute global problems affecting all nations. They destabilize economies, violate human rights, create social tensions and undermine justice and democracy. Unfortunately, the situation in this field has been deteriorating over the past few decades. Hence genuine and sincere efforts to fight money laundering, including through the adoption of appropriate legislation, should be welcomed and appreciated. We believe it is especially important in the case of the UK, whose financial markets are extensively used by criminals to legalize their proceeds.
On 27 May Third Secretary of the Embassy Vadim Retyunskiy presented the Ushakov medal to the Arctic Convoys veteran Mr William BRYANT who was awarded this military honour by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation for his personal courage and bravery displayed in WWII.
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