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Russian spy attack: UK encouraged by support from allies, says Johnson Russian spy attack: Johnson welcomes allies' support
(about 3 hours later)
The UK is encouraged by the “strength of support” from allies to take action against Russia after the nerve agent attack on the former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Boris Johnson has said. The UK has been encouraged by the “strength of support” from allies to take action against Russia after the nerve agent attack on a former spy and his daughter, Boris Johnson said just hours before the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, was sacked by Donald Trump.Tillerson, who spoke to Johnson on Monday afternoon, had told reporters the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal “clearly came from Russia” and would have consequences.
The British foreign secretary said the Kremlin must explain by midnight on Tuesday it if was behind the attack, or if it had allowed the deadly nerve agent Novichok to fall into the wrong hands. Police have confirmed that Skripal and his daughter were in Salisbury city centre by 1.30pm. It is not known if they walked from his home or whether they drove or were driven in.
“If they can come up with a convincing explanation, then obviously we will want to see full disclosure of that to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the Hague,” he said. Skripal and his daughter strolled around Salisbury and visited the Zizzi restaurant on Castle Street and the nearby Mill pub. They are believed to have been in Zizzi for about 40 minutes from 2.30pm.
On Tuesday, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Russia had requested access to the substance to perform its own checks but the request had been refused. A CCTV camera at Snap Fitness in Market Walk captured two people initially thought to be Skripal and his daughter. The woman appeared to be carrying a red handbag. Later it became clear the pair were probably not the Russian and his daughter. Police have been keen to speak to the couple.
The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said the attack “clearly came from Russia” and would have consequences. His remarks went further than those of prime minister, Theresa May, who told the House of Commons on Monday it was “highly likely” Russia was behind the attack. The same camera caught personal trainer Freya Church. She turned left out of the gym and in front of her saw Skripal and the woman on a bench at the Maltings shopping centre. She said the woman had passed out and the man was behaving strangely. Church walked on.
Should no credible explanation be given, the UK is likely to expel a number of diplomats, more than the four who were told to leave the UK after the death of former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko. The UK may also potentially mount a covert cyber-offensive against the Kremlin. Footage that emerged on Friday from a local business showed that people were still strolling casually through Market Walk.
Any direct action may be covered under article 51 of the UN charter, which allows for legitimate self-defence but Downing Street denied May was attempting to win support to invoke article 5 of the Nato treaty on common defence. A member of the public dialled 999. The Friday footage shows an emergency vehicle racing through the pedestrianised arcade shortly after 4.15pm. A paramedic also ran through. Police and paramedics worked on the couple at the scene for almost an hour in ordinary uniforms.
Asked if the UK was approaching Nato to ask for help, housing minister Dominic Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the prime minister “chose her words very carefully” in her statement to the Commons to refer to an “unlawful use of force, which has a different meaning in international law to an armed attack ... I don’t think we’re down the territory you’re discussing there.” The woman was airlifted to hospital; Skripal was taken by road.
The UK government may also decide to formally support amendments to the sanctions and anti-money-laundering bill to target the persecutors of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian accountant who died after he revealed a huge state-sponsored fraud. Images taken by a passerby show that officers were still clearly unaware of the severity of the situation. They did not have specialist protective clothing and members of the public also strolled nearby.
The measures, which the FCO has previously resisted saying it already has the full confiscatory powers it needs, are highly symbolic, having been already formally adopted by the US, but ministers are likely to support a specific “Magnitsky clause” in the bill at report stage. Police told Salisbury Journal they were investigating a possible drug-related incident. At about this time officers identified Skripal and his daughter and by Sunday evening they were at his home – in normal uniform or street clothes. At some point DS Nick Bailey, now seriously ill in hospital, visited the Skripal house, but it is not known where he was contaminated.
Ministers may also examine whether to direct the broadcasting regulator Ofcom to investigate whether Russian media outlets such as RT are fit to hold a broadcasting licence and whether senior officials can be told to boycott the football World Cup in Russia this summer. Officers donned protective suits to examine the bench and surrounding areas.
May will seek support for the UK’s response from the US, the European Union and Nato. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, also spoke to May by telephone on Tuesday night. Downing Street said Paris offered its full solidarity and said it would “coordinate closely” on the UK’s agreed response. Officers were hosing themselves down. It was not until the next day that  a major incident was declared.
His remarks went further than those of Theresa May, who told the House of Commons on Monday it was “highly likely” Russia was behind the attack. And the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, had stopped short of pointing the finger at Russia.
Just hours after Johnson had welcomed US support, Trump tweeted that he had replaced Tillerson with the CIA director, Mike Pompeo. The sacking may not be linked to Tillerson’s comments on Russia; relations between the pair are believed to have been deteriorating for some time, especially over Trump’s announcement that he would meet the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
It is unclear when Tillerson learned that his dismissal was imminent. A spokesman said he “did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason”.
The US president said he would speak to the British prime minister about the Salisbury poisoning on Tuesday.
Trump said: “It sounds to me like they believe it was Russia … I would certainly take that finding as fact.” But he added: “If we get the facts straight we will condemn Russia, or whoever it might be.”
Thirty-eight people were seen by medical staff in the aftermath of the “reckless, despicable and targeted” Salisbury nerve agent attack, Britain most senior counter-terrorism police officer has said.
The Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner, Neil Basu, said 34 had been assessed and discharged and one person was being monitored as an outpatient.
Skripal and his daughter remained in hospital in a critical condition, while Wiltshire police detective sergeant Nick Bailey was in a serious but stable condition, but was making good progress, Basu said.
Delivering an update on the police investigation outside New Scotland Yard on Tuesday, he said the one person being monitored was not showing any signs of illness. Previously police had said 21 people had been affected.
In an interview earlier on Tuesday, Johnson repeated May’s ultimatum to the Kremlin that it must explain by midnight on Tuesday if it was behind the attack, or if it had allowed the deadly nerve agent novichok to get into the wrong hands.
“If they can come up with a convincing explanation, then obviously we will want to see full disclosure of that to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the Hague,” Johnson said.The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Russia had requested access to the substance to perform its own checks but the request had been refused. May’s spokesman hit back at Lavrov’s suggestion that Britain could be violating the chemical weapons convention.
“The UK fully complies with all of its obligations under the chemical weapons convention,” the spokesman said. “Under the chemical weapons convention, states have the mechanism to consult but there is no requirement to do so.”
May updated her cabinet on the unfolding investigation into the Salisbury attack, telling ministers there was “no doubt of the severity” of what had taken place.
Should Russia give no credible explanation, the UK is likely to expel a number of diplomats, more than the four who were told to leave the UK after the death of the former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko. The UK may also mount a covert cyber-offensive against the Kremlin.Any direct action may be covered under article 51 of the UN charter, which allows legitimate self-defence, but Downing Street denied May was trying to win support to invoke article 5 of the Nato treaty on common defence.Asked if the UK was approaching Nato for help, the housing minister Dominic Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the prime minister “chose her words very carefully” in her statement to the Commons to refer to an “unlawful use of force, which has a different meaning in international law to an armed attack ... I don’t think we’re down the territory you’re discussing there”.The government may also decide to formally support amendments to the sanctions and anti-money-laundering bill to target the persecutors of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian accountant who died after he revealed a major state-sponsored fraud.
In one of the most chilling episodes of the cold war, the Bulgarian dissident was poisoned with a specially adapted umbrella on Waterloo Bridge. As he waited for a bus, Markov felt a sharp prick in his leg. The opposition activist, who was an irritant to the communist government of Bulgaria, died three days later. A deadly pellet containing ricin was found in his skin. His unknown assassin is thought to have been from the secret services in Bulgaria.In one of the most chilling episodes of the cold war, the Bulgarian dissident was poisoned with a specially adapted umbrella on Waterloo Bridge. As he waited for a bus, Markov felt a sharp prick in his leg. The opposition activist, who was an irritant to the communist government of Bulgaria, died three days later. A deadly pellet containing ricin was found in his skin. His unknown assassin is thought to have been from the secret services in Bulgaria.
The fatal poisoning of the former FSB officer sparked an international incident. Litvinenko fell ill after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium. He met his killers in a bar of the Millennium hotel in Mayfair. The pair were Andrei Lugovoi – a former KGB officer turned businessman, who is now a deputy in Russia’s state Duma – and Dmitry Kovtun, a childhood friend of Lugovoi’s from a Soviet military family. Putin denied all involvement and refused to extradite either of the killers.The fatal poisoning of the former FSB officer sparked an international incident. Litvinenko fell ill after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium. He met his killers in a bar of the Millennium hotel in Mayfair. The pair were Andrei Lugovoi – a former KGB officer turned businessman, who is now a deputy in Russia’s state Duma – and Dmitry Kovtun, a childhood friend of Lugovoi’s from a Soviet military family. Putin denied all involvement and refused to extradite either of the killers.
The exiled Russian banker survived an attempt on his life as he got out of a cab in east London. He was shot four times with a silenced pistol. He had been involved in a bitter dispute with two former business partners.The exiled Russian banker survived an attempt on his life as he got out of a cab in east London. He was shot four times with a silenced pistol. He had been involved in a bitter dispute with two former business partners.
The businessman collapsed while running near his home in Surrey. Traces of a chemical that can be found in the poisonous plant gelsemium were later found in his stomach. Before his death, Perepilichnyy was helping a specialist investment firm uncover a $230m Russian money-laundering operation, a pre-inquest hearing was told. Hermitage Capital Management claimed that Perepilichnyy could have been deliberately killed for helping it uncover the scam involving Russian officials. He may have eaten a popular Russian dish containing the herb sorrel on the day of his death, which could have been poisoned.The businessman collapsed while running near his home in Surrey. Traces of a chemical that can be found in the poisonous plant gelsemium were later found in his stomach. Before his death, Perepilichnyy was helping a specialist investment firm uncover a $230m Russian money-laundering operation, a pre-inquest hearing was told. Hermitage Capital Management claimed that Perepilichnyy could have been deliberately killed for helping it uncover the scam involving Russian officials. He may have eaten a popular Russian dish containing the herb sorrel on the day of his death, which could have been poisoned.
The exiled billionaire was found hanged in an apparent suicide after he had spent more than decade waging a high-profile media battle against his one-time protege Putin. A coroner recorded an open verdict after hearing conflicting expert evidence about the way he died. A pathologist who conducted a postmortem examination on the businessman’s body said he could not rule out murder.The exiled billionaire was found hanged in an apparent suicide after he had spent more than decade waging a high-profile media battle against his one-time protege Putin. A coroner recorded an open verdict after hearing conflicting expert evidence about the way he died. A pathologist who conducted a postmortem examination on the businessman’s body said he could not rule out murder.
An associate of Berezovsky whom he helped to launder money, he was found impaled on railings after he fell from a fourth-floor flat in central London. A coroner ruled that there was insufficient evidence of suicide. But Young, who was sent to prison in January 2013 for repeatedly refusing to reveal his finances during a divorce row, told his partner he was going to jump out of the window moments before he was found.An associate of Berezovsky whom he helped to launder money, he was found impaled on railings after he fell from a fourth-floor flat in central London. A coroner ruled that there was insufficient evidence of suicide. But Young, who was sent to prison in January 2013 for repeatedly refusing to reveal his finances during a divorce row, told his partner he was going to jump out of the window moments before he was found.
On Tuesday, former foreign secretary William Hague said the west needed to “wake up” to the threat Russia posed and the armoury it had at its disposal. The measures, which the Foreign Office has previously resisted, saying it already has the full confiscatory powers it needs, are highly symbolic, having been already adopted by the US, but ministers are likely to support a specific “Magnitsky clause” in the bill at report stage.Ministers may also consider whether to direct the broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, to investigate whether Russian media outlets, such as RT, were fit to hold broadcasting licences and whether senior officials could be told to boycott the football World Cup in Russia this summer.May will seek support for the UK’s response from the US, the European Union and Nato. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, spoke to May by telephone on Monday night. Downing Street said Paris offered its full solidarity and said it would “coordinate closely” on the UK’s agreed response.Russia has denied it is behind the attack on Skripal, a former double agent who came to the UK in a spy swap in 2010, and his daughter, who both remain in hospital.
“Can it really be true that Russia is equipping itself to snap the undersea cables on which all our communications and finances depend? Afraid it is,” Hague wrote in his column for the Telegraph. “Are they actually positioning themselves to hack into our vital national infrastructure and disrupt it? Looks like it.” The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, called May’s statement to the Commons “a circus show in the British parliament … it’s another political information campaign, based on a provocation”.During an election campaign trip, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, dismissed questions about the Skripals when confronted by the BBC, saying: “Get to the bottom of things there, then we’ll discuss this.”The UK’s national security council was expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss the Russian response before the prime minister updates MPs. The home secretary, Amber Rudd, chaired a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall on Tuesday morning to discuss the latest developments.
Russia has denied it is behind the attack on Skripal, a former double agent who came to the UK in a spy swap in 2010, and his daughter, Yulia, who remain in hospital. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called May’s statement to the Commons “a circus show in the British parliament ... it’s another political information campaign, based on a provocation.”
During an election visit, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, dismissed questions about the Skripals when confronted by the BBC, saying: “Get to the bottom of things there, then we’ll discuss this.”
The UK’s national security council was expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss the Russian response, before the prime minister updates MPs. The home secretary, Amber Rudd, was due to chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall on Tuesday morning to discuss the latest developments.
Sergei SkripalSergei Skripal
RussiaRussia
Rex TillersonRex Tillerson
Foreign policyForeign policy
Vladimir PutinVladimir Putin
EspionageEspionage
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