Russian ambassador: UK is in breach of Vienna Convention for blocking access to Skripals
The Russian ambassador to the UK has implied the British authorities may have been behind the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, adding the country is in breach of the Vienna Convention for blocking access to “our compatriot”.
Speaking from London this afternoon, Alexander Yakovenko claimed it was suspicious that the UK had been able to identify the nerve agent as Novichok – “a bizarre Russian name to use with regard to a chemical substance, in a clear attempt to additionally and quite artificially link the incident to Russia” – so quickly.
“Could it mean that it is highly likely that the British authorities already had this nerve agent in their chemical laboratory in Porton Down, which is the largest secret military facility in the UK that has been dealing with chemical weapons,” he asked. “Is it a coincidence that this chemical weapons facility is only eight miles away from the site of the incident? How did doctors decide what antidotes to administer to the victims?
“Russian experts were puzzled by how quickly the British authorities managed to designate the nerve agent allegedly used in Salisbury and how this correlates with Scotland Yard’s official statements that “the investigation is highly likely to take weeks or even months” to arrive at conclusions.”
He said the Foreign Office has so far refused to share information on Sergei Skripal, citing his British citizenship.
“Therefore, the British Government has violated its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by denying consular access for the Embassy to the Russian citizens,” he said. “We continue to insist that the access and full information on the condition of our compatriots, whom nobody has seen since 4 March, should be provided.”
The Russian official, whose office has been posting a series of bizarre tweets since the Skripal case first emerged, added the UK has “a bad record of violating international law and misleading the international community”, citing “invading Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya under false pretexts”, as well as supporting what he called “the coup d’état in Ukraine”.
During a Q&A session, he brushed off suggestions that Putin could not be trusted, given his previous comments that defectors would die and a long list of assassinations including Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, saying his President was “absolutely reliable”.
He added that the comments were in a different context and had nothing to do with Britain.