Boris Johnson: Russia “isn’t fooling anybody” on Novichok claims
Boris Johnson has accused Russia of attempting to “conceal the needle of truth in a haystack of lies”, adding: “They’re not fooling anyone”.
The foreign secretary was speaking from Brussels, where he has travelled to in order to shore up support for the UK’s position over the attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
Johnson rejected Russia’s official position as “absurd”.
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“At one time they say they never made Novichok, at another they say they did make Novichok but all the stocks have been destroyed, and then again they say that they made Novichok and all the stocks have been destroyed but some of them have mysteriously escaped to Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the United States, or even the United Kingdom,” he said.
“I think what people can see is that this is a classic Russia strategy of trying to conceal the needle of truth in a haystack of lies and obfuscation.”
“What really strikes me talking to European friends and partners today is that, 12 years after the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko in London, they’re not fooling anybody anymore.
“There is scarcely a country around the table here in Brussels that has not been affected by some kind of malign of disruptive Russian behaviours.”
Last week Johnson’s Cabinet colleague defence secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Frankly, Russia should go away and shut up.”
This morning, asked if the Prime Minister had any congratulatory message for President Putin, who has just secured another six year term, a government spokesman noted that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s office for democratic institutions and human rights had “deployed an election observation mission to Russia, and we will await their assessment before making any comment”.
Theresa May is due to chair another National Security Council meeting tomorrow, after which it is expected further measures against Russia could be announced.
This morning the EU said it “takes extremely seriously the UK government’s assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation is responsible” – but stopped short of laying the blame with the Kremlin directly.
The statement added: “The European Union is shocked at the offensive use of any military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, for the first time on European soil in over 70 years. The use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances is completely unacceptable and constitutes a security threat to us all. Any such use is a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, a breach of international law and undermines the rules-based international order… The European Union expresses its unqualified solidarity with the UK and its support, including for the UK’s efforts to bring those responsible for this crime to justice.
Manfred Weber, a key ally of Angela Merkel, went further, tweeting this morning: “Putin is leading a modern war against the West. A line has been crossed. We Europeans need to wake up and stop being naive: our lifestyle is under attack. We have to defend ourselves.”
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