Britain’s National Security Council is due to meet Monday to discuss the latest intelligence on the attempted murder of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as pressure mounts on UK Prime Minister Theresa May over the alleged involvement of Moscow in the attack.
Multiple UK media reports suggested that the government is close to finalizing a number of retaliatory measures, including diplomatic expulsions and sanctions, should a Russian link be formally established.
Such a development would plunge relations between the UK and Russia to their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War.
The Skripals, believed by authorities to have been deliberately targeted, were found slumped on a bench near a shopping center in the city of Salisbury eight days ago. Police say a nerve agent was used in the attack.
On Sunday, the UK Chancellor, Philip Hammond, indicated the government could move to support the introduction of “Magnitsky Act” style-sanctions legislation on Russian officials, should sufficient evidence be provided linking Moscow with the nerve agent attack.
“If there were to be an involvement of a foreign state, evidenced by this investigation, then obviously that would be very serious indeed, and the government would respond appropriately,” Hammond told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.
The Magnitsky Act, first introduced in 2012, provides US officials with sweeping powers to freeze assets and place travel restrictions on foreign government officials involved in human rights abuses.
Downing Street has far resisted calls among opposition Labour MPs to draft similar laws in the UK.
However, on Sunday the Chancellor appeared to signal a shift in the government’s position.
“We’re seeking to reach an accommodation,” said Hammond in response to a question on the Magnitsky Act. “The proposals that were put forward actually create a power that we already have.”
Possible reaction
On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov dismissed allegations of Russian involvement as propaganda. Lavrov maintained Russia was ready to assist any investigation, but that it was “not necessary to hurl unfounded accusations on TV.”
Exactly how Britain might respond to evidence that implicated Moscow in the attack remains unclear. Possible options might include the expulsion of Russian diplomats and UK-based pro-Kremlin oligarchs; financial restrictions on figures linked to the Kremlin; and diplomatic efforts involving EU and US allies.
Previously, the the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the government would “respond appropriately and robustly,” promising that “no attempts to take innocent lives on UK soil will go unpunished.”
Johnson also called into question the UK’s diplomatic representation in the 2018 World Cup, to be held in Russia later this year.
Widening threat
Monday’s meeting comes as public health authorities warned hundreds of people could be affected by the attack, after traces of the nerve agent were detected in the Salisbury branch of Italian restaurant Zizzi and The Mill pub.
Speaking with reporters Sunday, England’s chief medical officer, Sally Davies, urged customers who visited either location on the same day as Sergei Skripal to wash their clothes and any possessions they had with them at the time.
The announcement follows the deployment Saturday of an additional 180 military personnel to help police investigate several sites amid concerns over potential contamination.
Police have so far identified more than 200 witnesses and 240 pieces of evidence in the attempted killing, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Saturday.
Police previously said they know what nerve agent was used in the attack, but have declined to name it or how they suspect it was administered.
The police officer who found the Skripals, Detective Sgt. Nick Bailey, remains hospitalized in serious condition but is “conversing and engaging” with visitors, said Rudd.
Who was Sergei Skripal?
In 2006, Sergei Skripal was sentenced to 13 years in prison for spying for Britain, according to Russian state media accounts of the closed hearing.
Russian court officials at the time said he’d received at least $100,000 for his work for MI6, the British intelligence service. He was granted refuge in the UK after a high-profile spy exchange between the United States and Russia in 2010.
His daughter Yulia is thought to be one of the few members of his immediate family still alive after his wife and son died in recent years. She was visiting him from Russia at the time of the incident.
