Theresa May to EU Leaders: Russia Is A Threat to Us All


Theresa May to EU Leaders: Russia Is A Threat to Us All

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Theresa May will tell EU leaders over dinner in Brussels on Thursday that Russia is a threat to the whole of the bloc that will last for years to come.

According to an advance briefing from the UK government, May will say the attack on the Russian double agent Segei Skripal in Salisbury earlier this month was “an indiscriminate and reckless act against the United Kingdom” amounting to “attempted murder using an illegal chemical weapon that we know Russia possesses.”

May will go on to say that other countries share the UK’s assessment that Russia is “responsible” for the attack before warning that the use of the Novichok nerve agent was “a clear violation” of international law, Politico reported.

The prime minister will warn EU leaders that Russia’s “disrespect for international rules and norms clearly threatens the basis for our advanced democracies, open societies, and free economies.”

She will add: “The Russian threat does not respect borders, and as such we are all at risk.”

Despite the wording of the Council conclusions, leaked to POLITICO Wednesday, May will insist the UK is happy with the support shown by its allies. “We welcome the backing that has been shown by EU leaders so far,” she will say.

“We want to work with our EU allies to uphold and protect the international rules-based order, to hold Russia to account for this flagrant breach of international laws, to ensure that such a heinous crime is never repeated, to protect our shared security in the face of the long-term challenge that Russia poses.”

According to a senior government official, the prime minister will end by warning that the challenge of Russia is one that will endure for “years to come.”

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