Diplomats from Britain and Russia preparing to square off at the United Nations later Thursday afternoon traded literary allusions to suggest the other would suffer in debate over the poisoning of an ex-spy last month.
The venue for the verbal sparring will be the U.N. Security Council. Russia requested the special meeting after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a watchdog group based at The Hague, rejected Moscow’s bid to join its investigation of the use of weapons-grade Novichok in the English country town of Salisbury.
Britain has said it is “highly likely” that the Kremlin is to blame for the poisoning. The March 4 incident in Salisbury led more than 20 countries, including the United States, to expel about 150 Russian intelligence officers posing as diplomats in a coordinated show of solidarity with London. Russia has expressed umbrage at the accusation, calling it an attempt to “demonize” Moscow.
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador took to Twitter on Thursday morning, saying it was “highly likely there will be a moment of truth” at the Security Council session.
“Those who spread lies about alleged Russian involvement in #SalisburyPoisoning must understand that such irresponsible behaviour has its price,” Dmitry Polyanskiy tweeted. “We on the contrary have nothing to hide.”
A few hours later, Britain’s U.N. ambassador, Karen Pierce, had a ready reply when reporters asked her bout Polyanskiy’s prediction.
“Part of me is tempted say, bring it on,” she said.
Around the time Pierce was taunting him, Polyanskiy was replying to a tweet from a man who has urged Russia to restore sovereignty to Ukraine.
“Confucius: ‘It’s very difficult to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no black cat,’ ” Polyanskiy wrote. “Applies to both — alleged Russian aggression against Ukraine and mysterious ‘Novichok.’ ”
Pierce reached into Arthur Conan Doyle to rebut Russia’s request to participate in a joint investigation.
“Allowing Russian scientists into the investigation when they are the most likely perpetrators of the crime would be like Scotland Yard inviting in Professor Moriarty,” she told reporters dryly.
Pierce said she suspects Russia is setting the stage to reject the conclusions of the OPCW investigation.
“We of the U.K. have nothing to hide,” she said. “We look forward to the report given to us as the requesting party. We ask: What have the Russians got to fear?”
In the run-up to the Security Council meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the accusations of Russian culpability as a “fairy tale”
Speaking at a conference on international security in Moscow, Lavrov called for a “substantial and responsible” probe into the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter. He said Russia wants to “establish the truth” about what happened.
Lavrov said the refusal to allow Russia to join the investigation was a “mockery of international law, diplomatic etiquette and elementary decency.” He said Skripal’s poisoning was “staged to justify the expulsion of so many diplomats.”
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