EMBASSY INFORMS
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Statement by First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy at the Security Council Arria-Formula meeting on Crimea regarding “Fifth anniversary of the beginning of Russia’s occupation of Crimea: A blatant violation of international law”
Distinguished Mr. President,
At the outset let me express condolences to the friendly people of New Zealand regarding the disastrous events in Christchurch. We condemn this heinous crime. It should be investigated and any possible recurrences should be prevented. We hope that all the wounded will feel better and recover soon.
There was a good storyteller Lewis Carrol. His most famous tale “Alice in Wonderland” tells us about a little girl who dreamt and thought it was real. I am having an impression that todays event is held by such “Alices” who tell us about their dreams. Their dreams are mainly scary and appalling.
Question: How would you comment on the UK position regarding humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria in the light of today’s International Donor Conference on Syria in Brussels? Answer: We have taken note of the FCO press release on the UK participation in this conference, stating that “humanitarian access to millions in need within Syria continues to be obstructed by the Syrian regime who routinely refuse requests from the UN and aid organisations to deliver aid”. These allegations are simply not true. In fact, the Syrian government makes every effort for delivering humanitarian aid to various parts of the country.
I am delighted to welcome you today at the reception to mark Russia’s participation in this year’s London Book Fair. It has already become a tradition and the “Read Russia” stand is one of the “trademark features” of the Fair which opens tomorrow. The main goal of literature, as well as of culture in general, is to build bridges between different countries and bring our ties to a new level of connectivity, engaging new dimensions and areas of contacts. This role has grown only more important during the chaotic and unpredictable times we live in today.
We thank Special Representative of the Secretary-General David Shearer and Mm. Angelina Jial for the information on the situation in South Sudan, as well as on the course of South Sudan peace process.
When looking back at the previous year, we believe that it was marked by the peace agreement that the sides to the conflict in South Sudan managed to reach. It is vital that South Sudanese sides demonstrated their preparedness for a compromise, and commitment to overcome disputes.
On 12 March 2018, Russian national Nikolay Glushkov was murdered in London under mysterious circumstances.
A year later, the Embassy regrets to state that the British authorities continue to disregard our numerous enquiries. The Russian side is yet to receive a substantial response from the Home Office to the official request of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation for legal assistance over Russia’s own criminal case into the death of Nikolay Glushkov, forwarded as early as in April 2018. After a brief letter from the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu on 26 April 2018, the Embassy has not received any meaningful updates on the investigation into the death of the Russian national. The British authorities have also been silent regarding the Embassy’s proposal to arrange a meeting between the Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko and the Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick. Instead of providing a credible response, the British government has been forwarding the Embassy from one authority to another in an obvious attempt to wrap up the case.
On 8 March the Embassy received a letter from the editor of the “Mail on Sunday” replying to the Embassy’s request of a public apology due to the newspaper publishing false information on the Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko on 3 March. The letter states that the the “Mail on Sunday” editing office does not consider appropriate to apologise for its article where it was suggested that Ambassador Yakovenko was expelled from the USA in 1986 for “spying”. Supposedly, publishing the Embassy’s response to the allegations was enough for it.
Question: 12 March marks one year since the mysterious murder of the Russian national Nikolay Glushkov in London. Does the Embassy have any new information regarding the circumstances of his death? Answer: Unfortunately, the British side continues to ignore our numerous requests regarding the inquiry into the death of former Deputy Director General of Aeroflot Mr Nikolay Glushkov in London. On 7 March the Embassy sent a new Note Verbale to the Foreign Office with a request to provide the Russian side with official information or preliminary results of the inquiry.
Question: In his interview to Sky News, British Ambassador to Russia Sir Laurie Bristow said that the UK would like “stabilise the relationship” between Moscow and London. Have you seen any real improvements to the Russia-UK relationship yet? Answer: We have taken note of Ambassador’s statement. To our view, both Russian and British people expect the two governments to do more than just try to “stabilise” the relationship at the current low point. However, should London indeed seek an end to the continuous deterioration of our relationship, that would be a step in the right direction.
One year ago there was a very busy day in the Security Council, as you might remember. The event was quite unexpected, but it got vivid media coverage and a lot of emotions. Today is exactly one year since the poisoning of former Russian Colonel of Intelligence Sergey Skripal and his daughter. We decided to speak to you today and to give our impression what we have right now as the bottom line. We can say that despite huge efforts of the UK police, it has not been able to support the political version of the incident with facts and proof. We have a lot of unconfirmed things, even mysterious facts, but no specifics and zero substance so far.
Today on March 6th, through the “Sunday Mirror” editorial office, the Embassy received a copy of the letter addressed to the President of Russia Vladimir Putin from Ewan Hope, son of the late Dawn Sturgess, regarding the circumstances of his mother’s death. Ambassador Yakovenko has sent Mr Hope a reply, in which he has expressed his condolences on the tragic death of Ms Sturgess and proposed a meeting to answer in person to any questions that Mr Hope might have.
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