Contents tagged with Salisbury

  • Russian diplomats intend to meet the son of ‘Novichok’ poisoning victim

    The Russian Embassy in Great Britain expressed its readiness to meet with the son of the Dawn Sturgess, who died after being exposed to a nerve agent, which also affected Sergey Skripal and his daughter Julia, informs the Russian service of Radio Liberty.

    According to the Russian news agency TASS, the diplomatic mission noted that they intend to send Evan Hope the "Salisbury: questions without answers" report, prepared for the anniversary of the incident in Salisbury.

    "The embassy is ready to …

  • Russian Embassy in UK calls Russian flag hoisted on Salisbury Cathedral 'a provocation'

    The Russian Embassy in London considers the appearance of a Russian flag on the Cathedral in Salisbury a provocation, stated the Press Secretary of the Russian Diplomatic Mission on Sunday.

    "We have no official information about this. If it is true that a Russian flag was hoisted on the, in our opinion, it looks like a real provocation,” the diplomat said.

    He added that almost a year after the poisoning in Salisbury, Britain still has not provided any evidence of Russia's involvement in the …

  • US Secretary of State calls Lavrov to inform about new sanctions against Russia

    US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which he announced Washington’s intention to impose additional sanctions against the Russian Federation, reported the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. 

    “In connection with the US Secretary of State’s intention to impose additional sanctions on Russia under the absolutely unproven excuse of last year’s turbid story of the alleged “poisoning” of S.B. Skripal and his …

  • Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov warns Pompeo against sanctions for Skripals poisoning

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have recently spoken over the phone at the latter’s initiative, the Russian foreign policy department reported on Tuesday. 

    The officials discussed two main topics. 

    The first was the possible imposition of new sanctions on Russia due to the poisoning of former GRU agent Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the UK. Lavrov warned that this would cause further deterioration in the two countries’ relations and …

  • EU imposes sanctions against the head of Russian military intelligence due to use of chemical weapons

    On January 21st, the EU Council’s press service reported that the EU imposed sanctions against four Russians, five Syrians and one Syrian company as part of the new sanctions package for the use of chemical weapons.

    The restrictive measures concern two officials of the GRU (The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces), as well as the head and deputy head of the GRU responsible for the storage, transportation, and use in Salisbury (United Kingdom) of a poisonous nerve …

  • Russia arrests US citizen on charges of espionage

    Russia announced on Monday that its intelligence agency had arrested a US citizen in Moscow on suspicion of espionage. 

    According to the FSB, the American was arrested on Friday “while carrying out spying activity”. 

    Charges have been brought against him according to article 276 of Russia’s Criminal Code (Espionage), which envisages a prison sentence of up to 20 years. 

    The suspect was identified as Paul Whelan, but no other details were provided. 

    The US later asked to be granted consular …

  • Britain denies that expelled Russian diplomats would be allowed to return

    British representatives refuted the statement made by the Russian Ambassador in London, Alexander Yakovenko, that allegedly the two countries agreed to gradually restore dozens of diplomats to their positions, expelled by both sides after the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury. 

    “No new agreements have been made. Our position regarding Russian diplomatic presence in the UK has not changed after measures were taken after Salisbury. Work of our respective missions occurs in the …

  • US prepares second sanctions package against Russia for Salisbury poisoning

    The US is still considering the second package of sanctions against Russia in connection with the Salisbury incident, a source in the US Department of State told RIA Novosti.

    “We are not announcing the sanctions, but that is because we are still considering them, and because we would like to be certain that we are doing it correctly,” the source said.

    At the start of November, the State Department informed Congress that Moscow had failed to meet the requirements prescribed by the Chemical and …

  • UK suspending ‘golden visa’ program for wealthy Russians over corruption and money laundering concerns

    After December 7, the British government will suspend granting of privileged visas to foreign investors, which allowed rich people to reside in the United Kingdom.

    The Voice of America writes that, initially, the condition for obtaining a Level 1 visa was an investment of at least two million pounds sterling ($ 2.5 million) in the UK. This also gave such persons the right to bring family members to the country for an initial term of more than three years with the possibility of renewal, and …

  • Russia detains persons involved in leaking Skripal poisoners’ personal data

    The Russian news outlet Rosbalt reports that the FSB has identified those involved in leaking the personal data of Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, who were accused by London of poisoning former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal.

    According to the agency, the FSB officers executed more than 60 warrants over a “short period” aimed at stopping the leaks the data. “First of all, they came to private detectives and the so-called "pushers", those who were known to sell data from closed databases,” …