syria-un-20180316-1 6

4/23/2018 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions at a joint news conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mo… http://www.mid.ru/en/press_service/minister_speeches/-/asset_publisher/7OvQR5KJWVmR/content/id/3121196 6/7 Also, I would like to repeat what the chief UK military official has said: “Russia should go away and shut up.” Do you remember the last time such a high-ranking official used this language in relations with Russia? Sergey Lavrov: It is highly impossible to remember [spoken in English]. No, I do not recall this, of course. We no longer take notice of this, and we do not get angry over the new sanctions – not that we ever did. They invented a story about our interference in their elections. It began more than a year ago. They have held investigations and hearings. But not a single hard fact has been presented to the public. They are compensating for the absence of facts with ever new sanctions for the same crime, which, it should be said, runs contrary to Anglo-Saxon law. In fact, we have seen a completely unusual side of the Anglo-Saxon system of law and justice. On the other hand, it has happened so many times of late that we should be used to it. What is happening? I watched BBC and CNN news today. Their manner of providing information is very simple. They say that France, Germany and the US stand in solidarity with Britain. They demand to know why Russia has poisoned that colonel. But Russia says it has not poisoned him. This is how they present the matter. They do not say that an investigation is underway, that it is not over yet and that the results of this investigation have not been submitted to any court, in particular a UK court. They do not say that the UK has referred this problem to the OPCW and hence should act in keeping with its CWC commitments. They do not say that Russia has legitimately asked to see any evidence of these allegations, or that Russia is acting in accordance with an international treaty that has been ratified by Russia, Britain and all other countries, which are seriously concerned about this now. They have told us openly that they would not talk with us. It is a flagrant violation of the CWC provisions, under which any signatory state, before doing anything, must directly interact with the state that is suspected to be the origin of the poisonous substance in question. But they tell us arrogantly that they will not talk with us. Your colleagues from the BBC and other media outlets do not tell this to the Western reader. They phrase the news very simply but they announce them with very meaningful expressions on their faces. Russia has been called upon to explain why it did this, but Russia has denied the responsibility. Needless to say, this is how ordinary people will remember this. These are the methods of Western propaganda. I hope we will never stoop so low. In principle, I feel embarrassed talking about this situation. I think we did all we could and we have asked absolutely legitimately that the UK do what it should do under the CWC. But you can see the reaction this has produced. Even in British parliament, when an opposition leader asked the country’s leaders to show them what they have on Russia, they refused to do so. I want to repeat that they completely disregard our request that in this case we should wait until the poisoning victim gets better – I pray for this – just as his daughter, who is a Russian citizen. They refuse to say anything about her, although they should. Likewise, they do not share any information about the death of Nikolay Glushkov, even though they should. Why not ask Mr Skripal, when he gets better? He will probably be able to tell us what happened on the day of the tragedy. There is no evidence indicating when a hearing of his case could be held