Spree Of UK's Anti-Russia Claims Aims To Derail Putin's UNSC Summit Diplomacy - Expert

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) The United Kingdom on one single day accusing Russia of both interfering in the 2019 general election and seeking to steal the coronavirus vaccine research looks like an organized campaign with a potential to unravel Moscow's efforts to bring the WWII allies closer together at an anniversary summit, Tiberio Graziani, the chairman of Vision & Global Trends, International Institute for Global Analyses, told Sputnik.

On Thursday, the UK concurrently unveiled two fresh portions of anti-Russia claims. First, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the parliament that Russian actors "almost certainly" tried to interfere in the country's 2019 election through leaking documents on US-UK trade talks. In parallel, the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) accused Russia-linked cyber actors of attempting to steal data from UK, US and Canadian vaccine researchers. Raab blamed the Russian intelligence services for the attack.

According to Graziani, the claims are" very serious" and not "impromptu."

"I have the feeling that these allegations constitute part of a pre-established concerted plan against the Russian Federation rather than being an accidental claim aimed at defending British and US national interests," he told Sputnik.

The expert noted that the allegation of Russian election interference "concerns not only the international dimension, but also the domestic one," as the leaked report on trade talks with the United States ended up in the hands of then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who used it to attack the cabinet ahead of the 2019 vote. The document sheds light on the US' push to secure access for its drug firms to NHS markets, among other things.

"The hypothesis that this kind of allegations is a piece of a broader campaign against Russia is also supported by the news that alleged Russian hackers attempted to steal data on Covid 19 vaccines being studied by British, US and Canadian entities. This latest accusation, however, clashes strongly with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's proposal to bring together the old Allies in a summit to face the global challenges of the moment," Graziani stated.

Putin suggested earlier in the year holding the key UNSC members' summit in 2020, the year that marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. Among the proposed topics are world affairs, global security, economy and the pandemic crisis, as well as climate change and cyberthreats. In his article on WWII, Putin urged the WWII victorious countries to treat the UN-based international order as "a duty." He noted that the other leaders had supported the idea of such a summit, and expressed hope that the meeting would happen as soon as possible.