PRESS RELEASES AND NEWS
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Question: How would you comment on the article published by the online edition of The Guardian on 6 August, according to which the UK government is poised to submit an extradition request to Moscow for two Russians suspected of carrying out the Salisbury nerve agent attack?
Answer: We have taken note of that article too. The Embassy has not received any official requests to that effect. Moreover, we have to note once again that there have been at least a hundred media leaks citing unidentified sources since the Salisbury incident. With this in mind that information should not to be taken into consideration. We have no confidence in such unconfirmed media leaks.
As to the matter, the Russian side has been constantly pressing the British authorities to provide an answer to the key questions raised by us, including as to what really happened in Salisbury.
Letter to the Editor of The Washington Post by Mr. Dmitry Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, with regard to the article entitled
“A dispatch from the fight against Russian disinformation –
and a place where truth is winning”
Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Moscow, August 3, 2018
Question: According to media reports, an air ambulance involved in the initial response to the Amesbury incident has been grounded by police, which continue to search a number of sites, including the Queen Elizabeth Gardens, for the nerve agent “novichok” in Salisbury. How would that, in your opinion, correlate with the British health authorities’ assertions that there the risk to the public is low?
Answer: Indeed, on the one hand, the Public Health England has on a number of occasions advised that the risk to the public remains low while, on the other hand, police have stepped up their search for the nerve agent even at places that have never been visited by the victims. In particular, there have been reports that the Wiltshire air ambulance base involved in the initial response to the Amesbury incident has been closed as a precautionary measure to allow specialist to test for the nerve agent “Novichok”.
Question: 4 August marks five months since the Salisbury incident with the Russian nationals Sergei and Yulia Skripal. This length of time would seem enough to have established clarity in this case. Has there been any progress in your interaction with the British side?
Answer: We have to note again that, unfortunately, no such interaction has taken place so far. We continue to knock at the closed door trying to receive answers to the numerous questions we raised, including on what happened to the Russian citizens in Salisbury, where they are now and what is their health condition.
Question: In one of its earlier comments the Embassy announced that it had requested assistance of the UK authorities in arranging a meeting with Chief Executive of the Porton Down Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) Gary Aitkenhead and his colleagues. Has the British side replied to this query?
Answer: Unfortunately, neither the Embassy’s public comment, nor its official request for a meeting with Porton Down experts sent to the FCO in April have been answered. We have accumulated a number of questions that require substantive replies. Their list is growing as the investigation progresses, while the British authorities’ attempts to classify the circumstances of the poisoning in Salisbury and Amesbury only strenghten our suspicions that the incidents are somehow linked to Porton Down activity.
Q.: Has the Embassy received any new information from the British authorities concerning the circumstances of the death of the Russian national Mr Nikolay Glushkov in London?
A.: Unfortunately, the British authorities have not provided us with any new information concerning the course of the investigation into the death of Mr Glushkov since 26 April, when Assistant Commissioner of the Met Police Mr Neil Basu QPM replied to our query with a short letter.
Throughout the recent months the Embassy has made several attempts to contact Met Police senior officers, including by suggesting a meeting between the Ambassador and the Commissioner of the Met Police in order to clarify the situation around the investigation into the death of the Russian citizen. Moreover, as the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation for legal assistance in the criminal case opened in Russia on the death of Mr Nikolay Glushkov was delivered to the Home Office on 23 April, we have suggested to the British side to consider holding bilateral consultations on this matter between our respective authorities.
Question: UK Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt has on a number of occasions stated that Vladimir Putin would be “the only person rejoicing” over a no deal Brexit. How would you comment on that?
Answer: The European Union is Russia’s important neighbour and partner in politics, business, culture and people-to-people contacts. We are interested in a strong, stable and positively predictable European Union.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey (hereinafter – the Parties) reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria and agreed on the following:
Question: On 29 July The Daily Mirror presented a new version of the incident in Salisbury that “at least two teams of Russian hitmen were responsible for the Salisbury novichok attack”. How would you comment on that?
Answer: We have taken note of this information. One would notice that over the last two or three weeks the British media quoting “reliable sources”, have produced so many versions of the incidents in Salisbury and Amesbury that even professional investigators would struggle to make any sense out of them.
Unfortunately, the endless flow of leaks in the British media only contributes to the anti-Russian campaign run by the UK government. Such policy helps spread allegations around the incidents, not supported by facts thus hampering establishing the truth and bringing those responsible to justice.
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