Zakharova: UK Walks Back Accusations, But Russian Rage and Resentment is Very Real

Maria Zakharova, Russian MFA Spokeswoman: The UK MFA has deleted their Twitter post that said that the substance Skripal was poisoned with was made in Russia. Bold, wasn't it? It loses its value after the deletion of the Tweet, and the PM made a speech based on it in the Parliament. This is just, I don't even know how to call it, I'll look up the saying today. After this, they're all just scammers, for real. First, they twitted about it, then the post got a million of re-tweets. Now, after some time has passed, they deleted it. Then they'll claim to be misinterpreted, that they were saying it was 'highly likely'. They'll deny any direct accusations, claiming they wanted to find the truth but Russia didn't want to cooperate, and it was all a mere misunderstanding. This is the value of this entire terrifying performance. And in reality, 2 people, as they tell us, are in a critical condition. Also, there's a threat that the chemical substance with military characteristics was distributed within a European country that is an active member of relevant OPCW structures. This is all there is to it. And here's the price for all these stories. I repeat, I'll definitely check if it's deleted but this was spread by a news agency, so there's a high chance that this is true. However, we'll double-check and verify this information. Go ahead. - I'm from the international news agency, News Front, the Bulgarian editorial team. Dear Maria Vladimirovna, first of all, thank you for your comment on the investigation. Second, I have a question about the Skripals case. Is it safe to say that the US is planning a provocation about an unprecedented expulsion of the Russian diplomats? Is US trying to technically exclude Russia from the UNSC this way? Maria Zakharova, Russian MFA Spokeswoman: o. Here, the provocation is not in the expulsion of diplomats. What we consider to be a provocation, and we're making sure to confirm it first, only if we finally manage to get hold of the documents that confirm the Skripals' critical condition, as well as the fact that they were attacked with the specific substance they're talking about, if all that is confirmed, then we proceed on the assumption that it was a terrorist attack, as was previously mentioned by the Russian Political Establishment reps. All those things are of a provocative nature. The expulsion of diplomats is a sequel to those events that was necessary to give this entire situation some sort of a lawful tint meant to legitimize the accusations against Russia. There's no hard evidence, London has sealed all of it. There are no case materials, nobody wants to share any information, I mean the official UK structures. How should this case be logged into the world's history so that Russia would get all the blame? How can they do it? They need to demonstrate some solidarity within the global society and punish Russia by exiling its employees of the diplomatic missions. These graphics charts that the UK keeps pushing, along with endless accusations of Russia, you can see them, the so-called 'Lisa's case', the so-called cyber attack on some establishment, and they'll keep pushing the Skripal's case in the same manner. And when the future generation's journalists and experts ask what exactly is backing up this case, what the probative evidence is, they'll say that since all those countries supported them, they can't possibly be wrong. All the while, these countries were acting judging by the block discipline of a unitary flowing rate. This is despite the fact that all the discussions of this issue that were held within the EU summit terms were held behind closed doors. And, after they took place and the EU's unanimous opinion was announced, it turned out that a whole bunch of countries asked UK reps very uncomfortable questions, despite the block discipline that takes presence in the EU and in NATO, a whole set of countries didn't want to follow the lead blindly. This is why the decision to exile Russian diplomats took several days. This decision was made by each country under the pressure from London and Washington. That's why different measures were announced. They were also executed on different days. Also, information on the made decision is different. Some countries would make a decision, and then change it because they were all handled manually. But, we only remember these details here and now. They will fade eventually, becoming a foundation for a similar simple graphic chart or a simple 6-page presentation with the headline taking up one of them, so that everyone knows that Russia is also to blame for the Skripals' case. That's all. This is why the expulsion of diplomats is a necessary measure that London needs to legitimize their accusations towards Russia. This is an absolute, 100% real lie. This being said, all this information gets sealed. Meanwhile, the media uses large amounts of informational leaks to unknown sources from unknown experts of unknown reps of some official structures to line up an incredible amount of versions. Here are some examples. In the beginning, they stated that Skripals were poisoned with fentanyl, an opioid analgesic. Then they learned that the poison could've been in the flower bouquet that they brought to the cemetery. The next false story was about the poisonous substance being in the car's ventilation system, or that one of the vehicle's details was covered with poison. It's also been said that Skripals could've been poisoned right on the street. They also said, referring to the police, that over 100 Salisbury residents could've also been poisoned by the neuro-paralyzing agent. The UK healthcare community even advised everyone who had visited the Mill Pub and the Zizi Restaurant that Skripals had visited on the day of their alleged poisoning, to wash their clothes and wipe their cell phones. Just imagine, in the light of yesterday's announcement from Porton Down that it was a chemical warfare they simply suggested washing their clothes and wipe their cell phones. Well, this is what they usually do after a chemical attack. Then there were statements that the poison was allegedly found on the Skripals' house doorknob. Later, they came up with a new version that the substance could've been placed in Yulia Skripal's luggage, and that their cosmetics and clothes were poisoned, too, along with some personal gift for Skripal. One of the latest versions is completely absurd, of course. The poisonous substance could've been delivered in a bag of buckwheat or in a bag with bay leaf and spices that Yulia Skripal didn't take with her before leaving for the UK, and asked her friend, who was arriving in London with her husband on another flight, to bring it to her. Everything is done to deliberately confuse people while keeping the subject afloat. More and more new versions are introduced every day with source references. Besides, and we've verified this information, it's not published in the media, but we have it, we really did check it thoroughly, and I'd like to share it with you today. We have reliable information that Skripals had pets in their home. One might wonder what this has to do with the case. Well, it's actually directly connected to the case if we're talking about the use of poisonous chemical substances in the home where Skripals live, as many versions suggest. So, where are these pets now? We even have an idea of how many of them there were and which kinds but it's more of a question for the UK. Where are the pets? What condition are they in? Why does the UK who actively leak investigation details to the media referring to unnamed sources has hidden this fact? We're talking about live creatures here, and if a poisonous substance was really used in the house, as the UK media says, referring to unnamed sources, these live creatures should've suffered, too. Why was Russia blamed so quickly and without due process of law, even though this poison could've been potentially manufactured in 20 different countries, including a lab 20 km away from the incident site? This is the big question, and nobody has answered it. Anyway, while Russia urges everyone to think logically, lead a transparent investigation, and have a dialogue about the Skripals' case, the UK prefers not just to speculate but forming a deliberate campaign of disinformation. They don't provide a single shred of evidence or any facts whatsoever. They build their entire incriminating theory on 'highly likely'. It's not even about violating the commonly accepted presumption of innocence principle, we're talking about the country that is a member of the UNSC, the country that has nuclear weapons in its possession, thus being especially responsible for international stability and safety, an international law object who refuse to conduct a logical, open, fair dialogue with another country, involving bilateral channels and international OPCW grounds. The resentment that Russian citizens feel is absolutely understandable. We receive hundreds of letters from Russians every day. They demand to take stern measures towards the UK. They even suggest their own measures for this situation. All this has transformed into rage that has real foundation, and has now transformed into sarcasm, including many sarcastic materials, like various videos, photo collages, and many others.