Putin to Britain: Let's forget about the Skripal poisoning

By Vladimir Soldatkin and Andrew Osborn

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks next to Sergei Mikhailov, TASS Russian News Agency General Director, during his meeting with chiefs of International News Agencies on the sideline of St. Petersburg Economic Forum (SPIEF 2019) in St. Petersburg, Russia June 6, 2019. Yuri Kochetkov/Pool via REUTERS

 

ST PETERSBURG/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he hoped Britain's next prime minister would forget about the poisoning of a former double agent in England last year in order to improve battered ties.

 

The poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury with a nerve agent prompted a wave of diplomatic expulsions and recriminations with ties between London and Moscow shrivelling to a post-Cold War low in its wake.

 

British prosecutors have since charged two Russian military intelligence officers, known by the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, with attempted murder in their absence, though the Kremlin has repeatedly denied Russian involvement.

 

Putin, speaking to media on the sidelines of an economic forum in St Petersburg, said he hoped whoever succeeded Theresa May as Britain's prime minister would see what he described as the bigger picture and move on from the Skripal incident.

 

May is due to step down soon after failing to persuade parliament to back a deal on Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. The ruling Conservative Party is in the process of choosing her successor.

 

"When all's said and done we need to turn this page connected with spies and assassination attempts," said Putin, who described Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain’s MI6 foreign spy service, as London's spy.

 

"He's your agent not ours. That means you spied against us and it's hard for me to say what happened with him subsequently. We need to forget about all this in the final analysis," said Putin.

 

The Russian leader recalled his own lengthy experience working first for the Soviet Union's KGB spy service and then Russia's FSB security service, which he suggested meant he knew what he was talking about.

 

"Global issues linked with common national interests in the economic, social and security spheres are more important than games played by intelligence services. I'm talking to you as an expert, believe me. We need to cast off this fluff and get down to business."

 

Putin said better ties between London and Moscow would benefit the interests of 600 British companies he said were working in Russia.

 

"They want to feel secure .... and we regard them as friends."

 

May's spokeswoman, reacting to Putin's statement, said London would continue to engage with Russia on matters of international security, but that Moscow had to change its behaviour.

 

"We have been clear that Russia's pattern of aggression and destabilising behaviour undermines its claims to be a responsible international partner," she said.

 

"...The PM has made clear on numerous occasions we can only have a different relationship if Russia changes its behaviour."

 

(Additional reporting by William James in London and by Tom Balmforth in Moscow; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-07

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Ahhhh no let’s not forget let’s keep that in mind when dealing with him and his ilk

Lest we forget Mr. Putin, you're a tyrant and brute, so what next? forget Cramia, Georgia, Chechiya and many other places, and how your forces are actively engaged in bombing of Syrian people? Let's not forget sir...

 

"He's your agent not ours. That means you spied against us and it's hard for me to say what happened with him subsequently."

 

And he did time, in your country, for his crime.

 

Time during which he was pardoned.

 

Then you tried to murder him, "subsequently" causing the death of a British citizen and endangering the lives of many more British citizens, all on British soil.

 

F*** off.

 

 

Edited June 6, 20197 yr by Enoon

33 minutes ago, webfact said:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he hoped Britain's next prime minister would forget about the poisoning of a former double agent in England last year

never realized he was a fool

It seems the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko is already forgotten.

They should stick to an ice axe or bullets, that poison is nasty stuff

Seems to me there is a very simple way for Putin to convince the Brits he is serious about getting past this.  Turn the two Russian intelligence officers over to the UK to be prosecuted in court.

 

They'll get a fair trial and the truth (guilt or innocence) will be evident to everyone.

Ok, honey, so I slept with your sister. Well, Alright, AND your best friend, too. At the same time. It was just once. Well, ok, twice. And then I killed ‘em. But, c’mon, baby, let’s get past that and look to the future. You have another sister, don’t you?

Using a military grade nerve agent and paralyzing a small innocent city killing a citizen umm forget it probably never????

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Putin to Britain: Let's forget about the Skripal poisoning

Let’s not vlad...

3 hours ago, webfact said:

"They want to feel secure .... and we regard them as friends."

So it would be a shame if anything happened to them.

Is MH17 and all 298 victims already forgotten mr Putler?

9 hours ago, Thakkar said:

Ok, honey, so I slept with your sister. Well, Alright, AND your best friend, too. At the same time. It was just once. Well, ok, twice. And then I killed ‘em. But, c’mon, baby, let’s get past that and look to the future. You have another sister, don’t you?

Spoken like a true psychopath

6 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

"He's your agent not ours. That means you spied against us and it's hard for me to say what happened with him subsequently."

 

And he did time, in your country, for his crime.

 

Time during which he was pardoned.

 

Then you tried to murder him, "subsequently" causing the death of a British citizen and endangering the lives of many more British citizens, all on British soil.

 

F*** off.

 

 

How come he didn't die whilst doing time in Russia?

4 hours ago, Watchful said:

Seems to me there is a very simple way for Putin to convince the Brits he is serious about getting past this.  Turn the two Russian intelligence officers over to the UK to be prosecuted in court.

 

They'll get a fair trial and the truth (guilt or innocence) will be evident to everyone.

They were soldiers following orders, the real criminals are the ones who gave the orders, lets see Putin and a few of generals tried for this and other crimes.

38 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

How come he didn't die whilst doing time in Russia?

Consider this.

 

Perhaps Putin has a sudden need to set an example for others to see and ponder.

 

 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he hoped Britain's next prime minister would forget about the poisoning of a former double agent in England last year in order to improve battered ties.

I suppose that is the nearest we will get in the way of an admission of guilt.

2 minutes ago, Basil B said:

They were soldiers following orders, the real criminals are the ones who gave the orders, lets see Putin and a few of generals tried for this and other crimes.

Well it’s s nice thought, but it won’t happen.

 

What could happen is Russia and oligarchs around Putin put under punitive economic sanctions to the point were Putin becomes a liability to very powerful people in Russia.

 

That too is a nice thought, but it won’t happen while Trump is acting as Putin’s wingman.

Putin is a criminal and thug!

 

His pattern of behavior and laughable denials have stacked up to make him unfit for office.

 

There is something about Russian behaviour that has no bounds of restraint. No wonder they are often linked to human rights abusers like China and shunned by the international community. This weak Putin plea to move on is simply because of the pain repercussions have caused.

 

Best outcome is to grind Putin into dust as he's liable to overstep norms whenever he thinks its deserved. The trend is not our friend.

Trump is so much easier to deal with than these Brits. Any problem Putin just denies it “strongly” and he takes his word for it

After Brexit we will be free to do trade deals with our Russian friends - and we will need all the 'friends' we can get !

After Brexit we will be free to do trade deals with our Russian friends - and we will need all the 'friends' we can get !

Damn sure EU has never been UK friends ! The more anyone digs into how the facist Fake Union suppresses the UK in trade the more anyone with a brain would understand how it operates !


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12 hours ago, webfact said:

"When all's said and done we need to turn this page connected with spies and assassination attempts," said Putin,

he's a funny guy, he should be good friends with the Saudi Arabia prince, they send the special forces to kill somebody they didn't like and get away with it.... and Trump closed his eyes/hears in the name of arms sales $$$$$

Can't we discuss this over a cup of tea, here let me pour. Cream, sugar, cesium?

1 hour ago, wreckingcountry said:

Damn sure EU has never been UK friends ! The more anyone digs into how the facist Fake Union suppresses the UK in trade the more anyone with a brain would understand how it operates !


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Can you substantiate that extraordinary claim?

 

You Brits are lucky. Whenever he wants something from the US he just calls the WH and gives orders.

Off topic post and reply removed

15 hours ago, webfact said:

Putin to Britain: Let's forget about the Skripal poisoning

 

Makes sense to me...  

 

After all, what's a few attempted political assassinations among "friends."  Not to mention the two other Brits who were subsequently poisoned, with one of those later dying as a result.

 

Attacks that Russia has never acknowledged as its own handiwork, and has never in any meaningful way assisted in the investigations.

 

 

 

8 hours ago, Basil B said:

They were soldiers following orders, the real criminals are the ones who gave the orders, lets see Putin and a few of generals tried for this and other crimes.

In Russia, only one man gives orders. The Russians call him the one whose name cannot be mentioned.