Russia claims UK 'spoiling' relationship between the two countries
Article and video report by ITV News correspondent Rupert Evelyn
A “dirty game” is being played by the UK and Theresa May says Russia.
In an exclusive interview with ITV News their most senior Foreign Affairs spokesperson concedes nothing on Salisbury, Skripals and Novichok but blames Britain for everything.
The breakdown in a relationship between the two countries, says Maria Zakharova, is “not problems, it’s just total damage, it’s a mess”.
In the UK we depend on the justice system to establish the facts of a crime. The evidence is tested, the jury decides.
But what happens when there’s no realistic chance of a prosecution, when the suspects will almost certainly never see a British courtroom and both the accused and accuser are barely communicating? Facts cannot be established and this in turn makes it almost impossible to be definitive on what happened.
This in essence is the current situation between Russia and Great Britain following the use of a chemical weapon on Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
Just last week Theresa May seemingly opened the door to Russia saying the UK is open to a “different relationship”.
Yet Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova told us the UK should “stop spoiling” the relationship and Russia is simply “sitting in same place smoking a cigar and waiting for better times”.
With both sides at odds any hope of rapprochement would seem unlikely and if there is to be a thaw then the only realistic chances of that to happen maybe to wait until the memory fades.