May Declares Russia “Clearly” Responsible For Skripal Poisoning, “Amounts To Unlawful Use Of Force Against UK”
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Mon, 03/12/2018
As the Sun reported late Sunday evening, Theresa May has officially blamed Russia for a nerve-agent attack on Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia, that led to the hospitalization of 21 people.
And in a speech to the House of Commons, May fleshed out the evidence that the UK has gathered to make its determination, while insisting that actions would be taken to hold the regime accountable – raising the possibility of more sanctions against Russia.
May told lawmakers that it was “highly likely” that Russia was responsible for the attack, explaining how a known Russian nerve agent had been discovered by investigators at the scene of the attack in Salisbury. If Moscow is unequivocally proven to have masterminded the attack, May said the UK government would consider it “an unlawful use of force.”
However, instead of conclusively declaring that Russian President Vladimir Putin had authorized the attack, May said UK intelligence said there are two possibilities of the origin of this action: That the attack was ordered by the Russian state, or the Russian state lost control of these nerve agents, which were then utilized to attack Skripal.
“Russia has previously produced this agent, and the government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible,” May said.
May pointed out that the attack happened “against a backdrop of Russian state aggression” citing the annexation of Crimea and unrest in the Donbas region. May added that Russia has meddled in elections.
“We will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil,” May said.
Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin brushed aside questions about Russia’s involvement, telling a BBC journalist that the UK needs to figure this out for itself before approaching Russia with any accusations, per RT.
“Sort this out for yourselves first, then come talk to us,” said the Russian president, when asked about the case by a BBC journalist during a visit to the southern region of Krasnodar. Putin then emphasized that he was in the region to deal with matters related to agriculture, not international espionage.
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