The alleged poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England took a turn when British Prime Minister Theresa May publicly addressed the matter in an address before Parliament. According to the New York Times, May declared that it was “highly likely” that Moscow was responsible for the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as well as several paramedics and police officers who initially responded to the incident last week. As a result, the United Kingdom is now hinting at possible sanctions over the matter.
“It is now clear that Mr. Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia,” said May. “The government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.” The prime minister went on to note that there are “only two plausible explanations for what happened”: “Either this was a direct act by the Russia state against our country, or the Russian government lost control of its potentially, catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others.”
Meanwhile, CNN previously reported that May’s government was “close to finalizing a number of retaliatory measures, including diplomatic expulsions and sanctions” against Russia in the event that the poisoning was unequivocally linked to them. According to the Times, the prime minister is “under pressure to show more resolve” than in the 2006 case of Alexander Litvinenko, a formed MIG informant who was murdered by poisoning. May, who was home secretary at the time, “resisted an open inquiry into Russia’s role in that case.”
(Via BBC News, New York Times and CNN)