LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2018) London's push for tougher anti-Russia sanctions is a "flawed and short-sighted" approach, which runs against international law and oppose the concept of "Global Britain," the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom said on Monday.
On September 5, the UK Crown Prosecution Service said that it had sufficient evidence to indict Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, suspected by London of the poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, on the charges related to the attack. UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that the Russian military intelligence had been behind the poisoning and claimed that the suspects were its employees. On September 14, UK Minister for Europe Alan Duncan said that London would seek a speedy implementation of the EU sanctions against Russia related to the alleged use of chemical weapons and would also strive for further strengthening of restrictive measures.
"Such policy of the British government is flawed and short-sighted. It is unacceptable by the standards of international relations. Unilateral sanctions run against international law and compromise the prestige of the United Kingdom, that is driving itself and its partners into a political impasse. It is ironic that this should be happening at a time when the government has adopted a 'Global Britain' policy to demonstrate openness to the world," a spokesperson for the embassy told reporters.
The diplomat also pointed that the United Kingdom had not provided any evidence of Russia's alleged involvement in the events it had been blamed for, while dismissing any proposals for cooperation in probing the relevant incidents.
"Faced with the realities of Brexit, the British government is desperate to convince its partners of the need for a tougher sanctions regime against Russia. As usual, it resorts to insinuations, unverified facts and media leaks ... Russia's proposals of cooperation in dealing with common challenges and threats, including in the sphere of cybersecurity and chemical disarmament, are being rejected without explanation," the embassy stressed.
Russian-UK relations significantly deteriorated in March over the attempted poisoning of Skripal and his daughter Yulia. The United Kingdom accused Moscow of being involved in the attack and urged the West to express solidarity, which resulted in expulsion of Russian diplomats from the majority of Western countries and a new round of anti-Moscow sanctions.
In July, London has also put blame on Russia for the poisoning of two people in the city of Amesbury, who were allegedly exposed to the same nerve agent that was used in Salisbury. Moscow has refuted the allegations and repeatedly pointed to the lack of evidence provided by London.
