U.S. strongly condemns Russia's poisoning of former spy - White House

[rooster59]

U.S. strongly condemns Russia's poisoning of former spy - White House

By Jeff Mason

 

FILE PHOTO: Members of the emergency services wearing protective clothing work near the bench where former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found poisoned in Salisbury, Britain, March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo

 

BERKLEY HEIGHTS, New Jersey (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday the United States strongly condemned Russia's use of chemical weapons against a former Russian agent in Britain, two days after the U.S. State Department announced sanctions over the move.

 

"The attack against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, United Kingdom, on March 4, 2018, was a reckless display of contempt for the universally held norm against chemical weapons," said a spokesman for the White House National Security Council in an email.

 

The spokesman said sanctions that the State Department said it would impose by the end of August fulfilled its legal obligations "after determining a foreign government has used chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals or in violation of international law."

 

Skripal, a former colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service, and his 33-year-old daughter were found slumped unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March, after a liquid form of the Novichok type of nerve agent was applied to his home's front door.

 

President Donald Trump, who is spending the week at his golf property in New Jersey, did not comment on the recent sanctions when asked about them by a reporter on Thursday. Trump has sought to improve relations with Russia despite U.S. intelligence findings that Moscow had meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

 

European countries and the United States have expelled 100 Russian diplomats since that attack, in the toughest action by Trump against Russia since he came to office.

 

Trump and his advisers have often appeared at odds over how strongly to act against Moscow. In the run-up to a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month, U.S. officials repeatedly called out Russia over its "malign" activities, but Trump did not use such language during a news conference with Putin.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-11

[mtls2005]

50 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

President Donald Trump, who is spending the week at his golf property in New Jersey, did not comment on the recent sanctions

 

Why am I not surprised?

 

 

[Emster23]

5 months for spokesman to make statement. Donnie will get on his tweet tweet rants against some TV host or celeb within minutes of anyone critical of him. Attack on our allies? Not his problem. His silence speaks volumes on what is important and what isn't to Trump

[Rally123]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

President Donald Trump, who is spending the week at his golf property in New Jersey, did not comment on the recent sanctions when asked about them by a reporter on Thursday.

Good for him. He's on holiday.  ☺️

[Tug]

6 months late with tepid response and don’t forget Donald’s hand delivered note to his master Putin begging for mercy lol 

[connda]

Interesting, but if you study history you'll see that there is nothing new to the Western press engaging in Russiaphobia hype and hyperbole.  It's been going on non-stop since at least the 18th century and continues to this day. 

Does it work?  Of course it does.  It is almost impossible for the average person who consumes main-stream news to separate fact from fiction.  The only way to discern the facts is to use multiple sources of information, including historical data, and then analyses the facts to draw your own conclusion.  Unfortunately the opinion of the masses are usually formed in an echo chamber of one-sided news reports.  But all sides engage in their own version of Newspeak.  Pointing out the 'good-guys' vs the 'bad-guys' is just an exercise in moral relativism. 

[SOTIRIOS]

...diabolical lunacy....???

 

....how else to describe yet another one of these 'false flags' to justify illegal actions....

 

...like when you went over to your friend's house to play...and he made all the rules as you went along...

 

...but a lot more serious than child's play...

 

...countries...and peoples lives...hanging in the balance...

 

...pathetic and disgraceful....

 

 

 

 

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed along with replies.