Vladimir Putin claims the UK government ‘staged’ the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in order to demonize Moscow and attempt to justify an illegal invasion of Russia.
According to Putin, London’s refusal to share information on the alleged nerve agent attack is down to the fact that UK intelligence services perpetrated the attack themselves.
Rt.com reports: Moscow is increasingly convinced that Britain is the real culprit behind the attack, according to Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko.
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“We have very serious suspicion that this provocation was done by British intelligence,” Yakovenko told Russia’s NTV channel. He clarified that Russia has no direct proof of this suspicion, but the behavior of the British government constitutes strong circumstantial evidence in support of this theory.
The diplomat added that London had gained both short-term and long-term benefits from the poisoning. The short-term gain is that Theresa May’s government managed to spin this story to whip up support both at home and in Europe, while sidelining its failures to negotiate more favorable terms for exiting the European Union, Yakovenko said. The long-term benefit is that it improved London’s standing in the ongoing confrontation between the West and Russia.
“The Britons are claiming a leading role in the so-called containment of Russia. To win support from the people and the parliament for this containment of Russia, a serious provocation was required. And the Britons may have done a really savage one to get this support,” he said.
The ambassador said that details of British investigations into the deaths of several high-profile people with Russian ties have been kept from the public. These include former Russian intelligence officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, fugitive Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky and Russian whistleblower Aleksandr Perepilichny. He said he hoped there would be a public disclosure of relevant facts in relation to the Skripal case.
“I am sure Russia will not allow the Britons to escape the legal field. They will have to give answers,” he said.
After the poisoning in Salisbury, the UK convinced some of its allies to follow its lead by expelling Russian diplomats. The US was the most receptive to the call, kicking 60 Russians out of the country, which dwarfed the UK’s expulsion of 23 people. European countries that chose to show solidarity with London expelled between one and four diplomats each. Ukraine expelled 13.
Russia hit back with reciprocal expulsions of foreign diplomats. It also demanded that Britain downsize its diplomatic mission in Russia to that of Russia in Britain, affecting over 50 jobs.
Sean Adl-Tabatabai
Putin: UK Government Staged Skripal Poisoning To Start War With Russia
BASICALLY UMMM YESSSSS
I think President Putin is right, there are far too many sinister twists and turns in every instance; the alleged so called suicide of the Porton Down head scientist, found dead, poisonings, butt passing, mysterious deaths, the neglect of Skripals’ pets. Seems like a most sinister smear campaign, blaming Russia at every opportunity – why scapegoat and attempt to discredit without evidence if there was no alterior motive?
Yep, it sounds like a false flag attack to me.