Russia requests meeting with British foreign minister on Skripal case
The Russian Embassy in England has sent the British Foreign Ministry a memorandum requesting a meeting with British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, the embassy’s press service reported.
“A meeting of Alexander Yakovenko with British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson to discuss the entire range of bilateral relations and the investigation of the incident in Salisbury is long overdue,” the report states.
The report notes that Yakovenko sent Johnson a personal note. The Russian Embassy has also expressed hope that there will be a “constructive response” from Britain, and that the meeting will take place “in the near future”.
On March 5, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were hospitalized in Salisbury, England, due to severe poisoning. Shortly thereafter, several emergency services workers who had worked at the scene of the incident were also hospitalized. The investigation believes that the Russian-produced nerve-paralysis agent “Novichok” was used against the Skripals.
Britain demanded that Russia explain how the substance ended up in the UK, but Russia did not respond. The UK subsequently expelled 23 Russian diplomats.
On March 26, Germany, France, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and other countries began to expel Russian diplomats as a sign of solidarity with Britain. Russian diplomats were expelled from a total of 30 countries.
The Russian government said that it would act according to the principle of reciprocity when responding to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the US, Canada, Ukraine and EU countries.