RTSat, 14 Apr 2018 10:29 UTC
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The Skripal case has raised a lot of questions, which are posed not only by Moscow, but by the British people, the Russian ambassador to the UK told RT, and failure to answer them puts the UK government's reputation on the line.
"We have the strategic patience and what we're going to do is to just press the British government, because they have to give a reply not only to us but also to the British people," Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko told RT in an exclusive interview.
The UK government has started answering some of the questions, but the pace is still very slow and the major ones remain unanswered. The scandal erupted in early March, when former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were found in critical condition in the town of Salisbury. Top UK officials pinned the blame on Moscow, but they are yet to release evidence to back up the accusations.
"We're working every day, so we're asking more and more questions. The government has started answering these questions, but very very, let's say, in a shrink way, but still we're trying to involve them in this process," Yakovenko said.
"But what seriously matters, is that why the government is doing this? Why are they declining all our requests? Why have they classified all the information?"The Russian position on the case remains unchanged, Yakovenko stressed. Moscow believes that the whole Skripal scandal was a
"huge" false flag operation,
"but we have to prove it." While the UK government is likely to have a
"political motivation" for blaming Russia, the diplomat said, it's too early to draw definitive conclusions. For now, finding out the truth behind what really happened is key.
The political
"motivation" might actually take its roots in Brexit, as the UK seeks
"its place under the sun" in the new reality, Yakovenko said.
"If you read the national security strategy, you will find that Russia in this strategy, and this is an official document of the British government, Russia is the enemy number one to Britain. So this is written in the paper," the diplomat stated. "Theresa May, in her famous banquet speech, announced that Britain will take a lead in the deterrence of Russia. In order to follow this policy, you have to have the support of the people. That's why all the media campaigns are basically targeted to the people in order to prove that Russia is an evil and to support the allegations of the British government."Inconsistencies in the case, the media offensive, and the lack of solid evidence, however, have raised questions among the British people themselves and put the government's reputation at stake, Yakovenko said. This, in turn, defeats the stated purpose of the UK becoming the main
"deterrent" of Russia.
"Without the support of the people, it's very difficult to do that. What we see today, the people don't believe the government, they put a lot of questions, and if you read the social media they are asking why the government is pursuing such a policy. In order to get the goal, you have to press more and more. That's why you hear all these stories, all these fake news," Yakovenko said.
"I think that at the stake they have their reputation, because the people are asking more and more questions: Who's running the country? Is Britain committed to international obligations? So the reputation of the country, the reputation of the government is at stake, and I believe this is quite a strong motivation for the British."
Comment: More from the Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko,
from RT :
UK appears to be 'destroying' evidence in Skripal case - Russian envoy
Published time: 13 Apr, 2018 12:08
Edited time: 14 Apr, 2018 10:13
The UK appears to be pursuing a policy of "destroying evidence" in the case of the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal, the Russian envoy to the UK said during a press conference on Friday.
"We get the impression that the British government is deliberately pursuing the policy of destroying all possible evidence, classifying all remaining materials and making a transparent investigation impossible," Alexander Yakovenko said.
The accusation came from Yakovenko, as he was updating the media on the developments in the Salisbury poisoning case. He reiterated Russia's dismay over the British government's refusal to allow Russian diplomats access to Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who was also poisoned, saying that from Moscow's point of view, the two Russian nationals appear to have been abducted by the British authorities.
The ambassador said London's approach to the high-profile case followed a pattern of crimes, in which the UK chose to classify details from the public and ignore Russia's request to disclose them.
The latest such case is the death of Russian businessman Nikolay Glushkov on March 12, after the apparent attack on the Skripals, Yakovenko said.
He confirmed Russia's receipt on Thursday of a classified report from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which the organization sent after confirming Britain's identification of a toxic agent used in the poisoning. Yakovenko said Moscow is studying it carefully and will make its opinion public when ready. He stressed that Russia's criticism of the way the UK chose to engaged the OPCW in the case did not amount to doubting the merits of the report.
The Russian diplomat also commented on the situation in Syria and Britain's possible military action there. He advised the UK against taking rash steps in Syria based on a fabricated chemical weapons attack last Saturday, saying it would be similar to the misguided intervention in Iraq in 2003.
He briefed journalists on the latest development in Douma, a town in the suburbs of Damascus, where the alleged attack took place and where Russian military police has been deployed on Thursday. He suggested that the media compared the situation in Douma, which is relatively undamaged after its capture by the Syrian government forces, to that in the city of Raqqa, which was practically obliterated by the US-led coalition and its allies on the ground last year, when they took the city from the jihadist group of Islamic State.
The full news conference:
Comment: More from the Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, from RT : The full news conference: