Britain, Russia clash in United Nations over spy poisoning case

The former spy, Sergei V. Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned on March 4 with what British investigators have identified as Novichok, a potent nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.

Britain retaliated on Wednesday by announcing the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats (the largest expulsion since 1985 when Britain expelled 25), and the revocation of an invitation to Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.

The minister said that in no situation at all it could be assumed that Moscow was involved in the case of Skripal’s poisoning.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said the comments suggested Mr Williamson “lacked education”.

Yesterday, the leaders of Britain, the US, Germany and France issued a joint statement blaming Russian Federation for the Salisbury poison attack.

The leaders did not say what, if any, actions they would take if Russian Federation does not comply.

A report on Walla News said that the United Kingdom ambassador to Israel had met with National Security Council head, Meir Ben-Shabbat, and asked him to urge Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to personally join the global condemnation.

“Many of us looked at a post-Soviet Russia with hope”. It is an assault on United Kingdom sovereignty and any such use by a State party is a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and a breach of worldwide law.

Russia’s envoy to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons told The AP his country has no stocks of the Novichok group of nerve agents, insisting that Soviet-era research into the agents was totally dismantled before Russian Federation joined the organization.

Britain, the US, Germany and France jointly called on Russian Federation on Thursday to explain the attack.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Julia Bishop argued Russian Federation had “no plausible excuse” for the attempted assassination.

However, Russia continues to deny it had anything to do with the attack. He also said that British Defense Minister Gavin Williamson, who earlier told Russian Federation to “go away and shut up”, may lack education.

Ms. May said it was tragic that Mr. Putin, who is likely to coast to a fourth term in a Sunday presidential election, had chosen to act in such a way. “Once the elements are proven, then the time will come for decisions to be made”, the spokesman said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has hit back at its British colleague for telling Moscow to “shut up” in response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats over the poisoning of a former spy.

Nikki Haley, the us ambassador to the United Nations, blamed Moscow for the attack at a U.N. Security Council emergency meeting Wednesday. He was jailed by Moscow in 2006 for secretly working for Britain’s MI6 but was later released and allowed to come to the UK. But in 2010 he was given refuge in Britain after being exchanged for Russian spies.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Britain could count on NATO’s solidarity, but that it had not invoked the alliance’s mutual defence clause. “If we don’t take immediate action, they could be used here in NY”, she said. “Nor will we tolerate such a flagrant breach of Russia’s worldwide obligations”, May told parliament.