EMBASSY INFORMS
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Question: How would you comment on the recent statement of the FCO concerning the new invitation to the OPCW experts to return to the UK to assist in the investigation into the Amesbury incident?
Answer: The Embassy is not in a position to comment on the investigation into the Amesbury incident related to the British nationals. Meanwhile we are interested in establishing the truth of what happened in Salisbury as the UK has again invited the OPCW experts to continue their work on identifying the nerve agent. Our approach is absolutely clear – we seek the truth and wish to know what happened to the Russian nationals in Salisbury and where they are now.
Unfortunately, we have to note once again that no substantive answers have been provided by the British authorities to our numerous legitimate and comprehensive questions. Over the last five months the Embassy has sent a number of Notes Verbales requesting the FCO to clarify as to how and by whom blood samples from Sergei and Yulia Skripal were collected; how it was documented; what was the procedure of sample collection; what assistance from the OPCW was requested; what information and material evidence the British side provided to the OPCW experts, etc.
Question: Has the Russian Embassy work got back to normal, after the reduction of its staff in March 2018? Are visas being issued to new staff members?
Answer: The arbitrary mass expulsion of our diplomats in March has further exacerbated the already difficult situation of the Russian diplomatic missions to the UK. The attitude of the British Side to reduce the Russian diplomatic presence is still there. As far as we can tell, the set of tools remains the same: visa limitations, meaningless extended delays in visa application processing for newly appointed staff members, along with three-month incremental visa extensions for personnel accredited in the UK, accompanied by withholding of diplomatic passports.
Question: How can you comment on the information published in «The Daily Telegraph” on 6 August that, at the start of the police investigation, the higher authorities were allegedly kept in the dark despite indications of political aspects in the death of A.Perepilichny?
Answer: We have had a close look at the publication. It is regrettable that some British media outlets remain tools for throw-ins of unsupported theories in the course of the Coroner’s inquest into the death of a Russian citizen A.Perepilichny (who died in the UK in November 2012).
Clearly, this is yet another attempt to question the investigation conducted by the police and the results of the two postmortem examinations, performed by the UK Home Office experts after the death of the Russian national, which established the cause of death as “non suspicious”. Moreover, during main hearings at Old Bailey, started in June 2017, the Surrey police have stated that the experts have not established any indications of poisoning, violent death or third-party involvement.
The Russian-British Business Forum (RBBF) under the theme «Partnership in Innovations» will be organized on 26-27 November 2018 in London by the Russian Trade Delegation in the United Kingdom with the support of the Russian Embassy in the UK and a number of other prominent organisations. The event will aim at furthering the Russian-British trade and investment cooperation through a direct dialogue between the authorities and business communities of both countries. The Forum will host representatives of governments, regional authorities, CEOs of leading corporations, banks, investment funds, service sector companies, innovative enterprises and edge-cutting start-ups as well as professional and business associations (around 500 people altogether). Numerous business meetings on different aspects of economic cooperation between Russia and the UK are foreseen to take place on the margins of the Forum.
The event will be held in premises of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (Broad Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3EE) in the framework of the traditional «Eastern Seasons» Russian business and culture week organized by «BSI Global Group» company.
On 4 August 2018 Third Secretary of the Embassy Vadim Retyunskiy presented the Ushakov medal to the Arctic Convoys veteran Mr Peter John LAKER.
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.
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