It seems the alleged nerve agent attack on a former spy and his daughter by Rusia in Britain has brought about a re-alliance of the West as the leaders of Britain, the US, Germany and France have released a joint statement strongly condemning the Salisbury nerve agent attack as “an assault on UK sovereignty”
The rare united comment from Theresa May, Donald Trump, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, released by Downing Street, follows extensive UK efforts to drum up international support for its response to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter with the novichok nerve agent.
The statement reads: “This use of a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the second world war.” The four leaders say, “abhor the attack that took place against Sergei and Yulia Skripal” in Salisbury.
“A British police officer who was also exposed in the attack remains seriously ill, and the lives of many innocent British citizens have been threatened,” it reads. “We express our sympathies to them all and our admiration for the UK police and emergency services for their courageous response.
“It is an assault on UK sovereignty and any such use by a state party is a clear violation of the chemical weapons convention and a breach of international law.
“It threatens the security of us all. The United Kingdom thoroughly briefed its allies that it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack.
“We share the UK assessment that there is no plausible alternative explanation, and note that Russia’s failure to address the legitimate request by the UK government further underlines its responsibility.”
The new joint statement calls on Russia to “address all questions related to the attack”, and provide full disclosure of the novichok programme to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.
It ends: “Our concerns are also heightened against the background of a pattern of earlier irresponsible Russian behaviour. We call on Russia to live up to its responsibilities as a member of the UN security council to uphold international peace and security.”
