Trump, May, Merkel and Macron Issue Joint Statement Blaming Russia for Sergei Skripal Poisoning

By Adam Bienkov

• Four world leaders have issued a joint statement blaming Russia for the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, the former double agent who fell ill with his daughter in England.
• The leaders say there is "no plausible alternative explanation" to Russia being to blame.
• The statement follows days of diplomacy by UK Prime Minister Theresa May and comes amid a meeting by NATO to discuss the crisis.

LONDON — The leaders of United States, Britain, France, and Germany have released a joint statement condemning Russia for the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in England last week.

US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed that there was "no plausible alternative explanation" than that Russia was to blame for the attack.

The leaders called on Russia to "live up to its responsibilities as a member of the UN Security Council," adding that Russia's actions "threaten the security of us all."

The statement marks a significant ramping up of tensions with Russia and comes as members of the NATO military alliance meet to discuss the crisis.

It came after several days of diplomacy by May following initial reluctance by the French and US governments to publicly blame Russia for the incident, in which Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by what was identified as a Russia-developed nerve agent.

On Wednesday, May announced that Britain would expel 23 Russian diplomats from the UK in response to the attack.

Britain is also set to freeze the accounts of people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and suspend all high-level contact with the Russian government.

On Thursday, UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said Russia should "shut up" and "go away" and suggested that Britain was in a "chilly" war with the country.

The joint statement in full

"We, the leaders of France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, abhor the attack that took place against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, UK, on 4 March 2018. A British police officer who was also exposed in the attack remains seriously ill, and the lives of many innocent British citizens have been threatened. We express our sympathies to them all, and our admiration for the UK police and emergency services for their courageous response.

"This use of a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War. It is an assault on UK sovereignty and any such use by a State party is a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and a breach of international law. It threatens the security of us all. The United Kingdom briefed thoroughly its allies that it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack. We share the UK assessment that there is no plausible alternative explanation, and note that Russia's failure to address the legitimate request by the UK government further underlines its responsibility.