UK secures US support for retaliatory action against Russia

The UK has secured US support to mount retaliatory action against Russia for the attempted assassination of a former spy.

Theresa May has secured US support for retaliatory action against Russia. Picture: Getty Images.

Britain has secured trans-Atlantic support to mount retaliatory action against Russia for the attempted assassination of a former double agent after US president Donald Trump proclaimed: ”The US is with the UK all the way’’.

Prime Minister Theresa May spoke with President Trump early this morning (AEDT) on the phone after it appeared that the alliance might be stretched following the sudden sacking of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

However after the call Mr Trump said it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, 33, in Salisbury nine days ago. The pair are critically ill in hospital after being poisoned with Novichok, a military grade nerve agent developed by Russia.

Police officers work at the Ashley Wood vehicle recovery centre in Salisbury where Sergei Skripal’s the car was taken. Picture: AFP.

“It sounds to me like they believe it was Russia and I would certainly take that finding as fact, Mr Trump told reporters in Washington.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister set out the conclusion reached by the UK Government that it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

“President Trump said the US was with the UK all the way, agreeing that the Russian government must provide unambiguous answers as to how this nerve agent came to be used.”

Britain has also sought Australian support.

Mrs May will announce the British response late tonight Australian time after her 11am (AEDT) deadline for Moscow to reveal how Novichok came to be used on British soil. Moscow has said it won’t agree to any deadlines until it has access to the chemical.

Sergei Skripal at a hearing at the Moscow District Military Court in Moscow in 2006. Picture: AFP.

Mrs May is considering a possible boycott by England at the FIFA 2018 World Cup, expelling diplomats, extending economic sanctions and imposing travel bans on Russian oligarchs closely connected to the Kremlin.

The British High Commission in Canberra held discussions on Tuesday with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet after Mrs May blamed Russia for the “reckless and despicable’’ chemical attack.

Australia is part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement with Britain, Canada, the United States and New Zealand and Britain has argued that its allies have benefited from British spying activities and that Russia’s actions are an attack against the rules-based order underpinning democracy.

In latest developments in the spy case British counter terrorism police have made an urgent appeal for anyone who witnessed the Skripals in just a 45 minute window as the two were in or near a red BMW in a multi storey carpark on March 5 just hours before collapsing in a critical condition.

The police appeal — and a warning that police activity would be continuing in Salisbury for weeks to come — comes as the British broadcast regulator Ofcom announced it would consider implications for Russia Today’s broadcast licences after the Prime Minister’s statement later today.

Police said they are not in a position to reveal where the poisoning of the pair on March 5 took place, nor have they a particular suspect to identify.

But the narrowing of a period of time to just 45 minutes for public information suggests that the police believe that something may have happened near or inside the car.

After parking the car, registration number HD09WAO, the Skripals went to the Bishop Mill pub and then the Zizzi restaurant at 2.20pm. They were inside the restaurant until 3.35pm, 40 minutes before the first call was made to police reporting the two were slumped on a park bench.

Police said the Salisbury residents can expect weeks of further police activity, including sudden and extended cordons to deal with “unique and complex issues’’.

The police have urged the public “please don’t be alarmed’’. But Salisbury residents are angry that they are being told to wash their clothes, while the military and police are heavily protected in specialist clothing, Their fury intensified when one of the Novichok scientists Vil Mirzayanov revealed that even a small drop could cause convulsions and unbearable pain. He told Sky News that washing clothes would not be enough to counter the chemical.

But Public Health England said their risk assessment and advice is based on knowledge of the chemical used and insisted the risk to the public is low.