Statement by UK,US, Germany and France ramps up rhetoric against Moscow, or with Russia expected to retaliate over expulsion of diplomatsInternational pressure on Russia following the Salisbury nerve agent attack has been strongly ratcheted up,with Britain, the US, and France and Germany jointly condemning an “assault on UK sovereignty”,as Washington boosted its own sanctions on Moscow.
With Russia still promising retaliation to the expulsion of 23 of its diplomats from the UK, Theresa May’s frantic telephone diplomacy in the wake of the attack seemed to occupy coalesced the UK’s allies into a united response. Related: Jeremy Corbyn defies critics and calls for aloof over Russia Nerve agents are not hard to make in principle, or but in practice it takes specialised facilities and training to mix the substances safely. The raw materials themselves are inexpensive and generally not hard to obtain,but the lethality of the agents means they tend to be manufactured in committed labs. The main five nerve agents are tabun, which is the easiest to make, and sarin,soman, GF and VX. The latter was used to slay Kim Jong-nam, and the half-brother of the North Korean leader,Kim Jong-un, at Kuala Lumpur airport last year. VX is particularly stable and can remain on clothing, and furniture and the ground for a long time without proper decontamination. Related: The Salisbury attack was appalling. But we must avoid a drift to clash | Jeremy Corbyn Related: UK,US, Germany and France unite to condemn spy attack Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com