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8224th Security Council Meeting: Letter from United Kingdom
The Security Council met this afternoon for the second time in less than a month to discuss a nerve-agent attack against Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury in March, with the representative of the Russian Federation — which had requested the meeting — saying the United Kingdom was engaged in “a theatre of the absurd” by seeking to pin responsibility on his country.
Responding, the United Kingdom’s representative reaffirmed her Government’s position that it was highly likely that the Russian Federation was involved in the attack. She went on to say that the Russian Federation was playing “fast and loose” with the world’s collective security while failing to cooperate with an ongoing investigation.
Council members heard updates on an investigation into the 4 March poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal, which the United Kingdom had said involved the use of a class of chemical warfare agents known as Novichok. Today’s meeting came a day after the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had met in The Hague, failing to agree on a proposed joint Russian Federation-United Kingdom investigation into the incident, which Member States have described as a violation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and of Their Destruction, known as the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Council had previously met to discuss the matter on 14 March. (See Press Release SC/13247.)
The representative of the United Kingdom, updating the Council on her country’s ongoing police investigation, said it was highly likely that the Russian Federation had carried out the assassination attempt, with experts having positively identified the chemical substance used. She went on to note that, on 21 March, OPCW had deployed a team to Salisbury and collected samples, which were sent to several designated laboratories for testing. The United Kingdom would share those findings once a report was made available. Meanwhile, the Russian Federation had reverted to a familiar path of attempting to undermine the international institution responsible for the investigation, having attempted to discredit the OPCW-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism and its work in Syria.
The Russian Federation’s representative said the United Kingdom authorities were coming up with several versions of what had transpired in Salisbury. Raising a raft of questions, he asserted that the Russian Federation was not responsible and that Moscow expected both answers and full cooperation from the United Kingdom, as well as consular access to the Skripals. Furthermore, the origin of the substance used in Salisbury had not been confirmed, yet people were demanding that the Russian Federation acknowledged its guilt. A crime had been committed on British soil, and perhaps also a terrorist act on a Russian citizen, he said, adding that a draft statement from his delegation for the Council’s consideration would be a litmus test as to whether the United Kingdom and its allies were true to their words.
The representative of the United States, one of several Council members to voice support for the United Kingdom’s position, said today’s meeting was an attempt by the Russian Federation to use the Council for political gains. Either the Russian Federation had used a chemical weapon in the Salisbury attack or it had failed to declare its stocks of nerve agents. While the international community had come together to express its outrage, the Russian Federation was putting forward a series of conspiracy theories amounting to disinformation.
In the same vein, France’s delegate said the prohibition of chemical weapons was a bedrock of the non-proliferation regime and that their re-emergence in the Middle East, Asia and now Europe could not be tolerated. The trivialization of chemical weapons would represent a victory of barbarity over civilization, as well as a setback against the international order, opening the door to the spectre of chemical terrorism. France would never allow impunity for those who used such weapons, he said, adding that the Russian Federation must be part of the solution and immediately act responsibly.
Several speakers appealed for cooperation, including China’s delegate, who said relevant issues should be addressed within the framework of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Emphasizing that the truth must be determined as soon as possible, he urged the countries concerned to undertake consultations, avoid politicization and actions that would aggravate the situation, and handle the issue through dialogue. At a time when the international community faced a plethora of issues, countries must avoid a cold war mentality and devote their efforts to building mutual respect and win-win cooperation, he added.
Bolivia’s representative, rejecting the use of chemical agents as weapons, likewise reiterated the need for a depoliticized investigation. Cooperation between relevant parties through diplomatic channels was essential to resolve the matter, as well as to strengthen the disarmament regime.
Also speaking today were representatives of Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Poland, Kuwait, Equatorial Guinea, Netherlands, Côte d’Ivoire and Peru.
The meeting began at 3:09 p.m. and ended at 4:48 p.m.
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