UK announces measures against Russia in poisoning case

The British Prime Minister Theresa May has made a statement in the House of Commons after Russia ‘provided no credible explanation’ for the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter by a Russian-made nerve agent.

May announced a range of measures:

• The expulsion of 23 Russia diplomats in ‘the biggest single expulsion in 30 years’;
• The addition of a targeted power to detain those ‘suspected of hostile state activity’ at the UK border – currently only used for those suspected of terrorism;
• The tabling of a government amendment to the sanctions bill to strengthen powers to impose sanctions in response to the violation of human rights;
• New travel controls and asset freezes: more checks on private flights, customs and freight. The freezing of Russian state assets where there is evidence that they may be used to ‘threaten the life or property’ of UK nationals or residents;
• The suspension of all planned ‘high-level’ bilateral contacts between UK and Russia, including revoking Foreign Minister Lavrov’s visit and no attendance by ministers or members of the country’s royal family at this year’s World Cup in Russia;
• The deploying of ‘a range of tools from across the full breadth of our national security apparatus in order to counter the threats of hostile state activity’ – which may allude to cybercrime allegedly carried out by Russia.

May confirmed that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had been notified about the use of the nerve agent, and that the UK was seeking a ‘robust international response’ from the UN Security Council.

The EU is due to discuss the matter at a two-day summit next week: Chairman of the EU Council Donald Tusk has already condemned the poisoning as ‘a brutal attack inspired most likely by Moscow’. Although a range of EU sanctions are already in place against Russia and Russian individuals following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean region of Ukraine in 2014, it is not clear whether further economic sanctions would receive the support of all EU Member States – France, for example, has demanded more evidence of Russian culpability for the poisoning attack.