Announcement regarding daughter of poisoned spy comes amid row over search of Russian aircraft by British authorities

The Foreign Office has said it is considering Russia’s request for consular access to Yulia Skripal as a fresh row develops over why British authorities searched a Russian aircraft travelling from Moscow to London on Friday.

Russia’s transport ministry said it would demand an official explanation from the UK government for why a Russian Aeroflot passenger plane was searched by authorities at Heathrow on Friday, and threatened “similar actions” against British Airways planes in Russia.

The news comes as the FCO considers Russia’s request for consular access to Yulia Skripal, the daughter of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, who is no longer in a critical condition after she was poisoned with a nerve agent along with her father in Salisbury earlier this month.

In a statement late on Friday, the Russian embassy in London described the search of Aeroflot flights 2582 and 2583 as “another blatant provocation” by UK authorities. It added that it had sent a diplomatic note asking for an explanation of the incident.

The embassy said British officials wanted to search the plane without the Russian crew present, but were prevented from doing so after an embassy official arrived at the airport. The statement said that “long negotiations were conducted” to ensure the right of the captain to take part in the search.

“At this moment, we have no other explanation but that the incident at Heathrow is in one way or another connected with the hostile policy that the UK government is conducting with regard to Russia,” the statement continued. Both Aeroflot and BA fly the London-Moscow route several times a day.

The Metropolitan police, which is co-ordinating the investigation into the poisoning of Yulia and Sergei Skripal, denied it was part of the aircraft search.



The UK security minister, Ben Wallace, said: “It is routine for Border Force to search aircraft to protect the UK from organised crime and from those who attempt to bring harmful substances like drugs or firearms into the country.

“Once these checks were carried out, the plane was allowed to carry on with its onward journey.”

The row comes as the FCO said the “rights and wishes of Yulia” would be taken into account when considering Russia’s request for access to the daughter of the poisoned spy.

She spent three weeks in a critical condition in hospital after both father and daughter were exposed to the nerve agent novichok earlier this month. But on Thursday, doctors announced that the 33-year-old’s condition was improving rapidly, prompting Russia’s request for access. Her father, Sergei Skripal, 66, remains in a critical condition.

An FCO spokeswoman told the Guardian: “We are considering requests for consular access in line with our obligations under international and domestic law, including the rights and wishes of Yulia Skripal.”

On Friday, Russia announced further sanctions against Britain, once again escalating the fallout of the Skripal attack.

The foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said new measures, which require the staffing levels of the three British diplomatic missions in Russia to be reduced to the same level as Russian missions in Britain, would effectively mean that just over 50 UK embassy staff would have to leave. It was not immediately clear if this meant 50 diplomats or 50 embassy employees, including local staff.

Zakharova said Moscow had responded in kind to Britain’s initial expulsions, with both sides ordering 23 diplomats out. She said the latest round of Russian expulsions was punishment for the fact that “London carried out a campaign to have Russian diplomats expelled from EU countries and a number of other countries”.</s>Russia has demanded to know why it has been “denied consular access” to the Skripals in a fresh list of questions for British authorities.

The embassy published a list of 14 questions on Saturday over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury.

The first question on the list read: “Why has Russia been denied consular access to the two Russian nationals, Sergei and Yulia Skripal, that have become crime victims in the British territory?”

It also included demands to know what treatment the pair were given and queried France’s “involvement” in the investigation and asked if the Novichok could have been “researched, developed or produced in the UK”.

The Russian Embassy previously released a list of 27 questions about the case, including details about the Skripals’ condition.

It also claimed Mr Skripal’s niece had been inquiring after his health but that she had been ignored by the Foreign Office, and asked why no images or footage of the Skripals in hospital had been published.

Earlier on Saturday, the UK Foreign Office said it was considering a request from Russia to see Ms Skripal.

A spokeswoman for the FCO said the “rights and wishes of Yulia” will be taken into account as well as internal laws.

Ms Skripal spent three weeks in a critical condition after she and her father were exposed to Novichok on March 4.

The Russian Embassy had said it “insists” on the right to see Ms Skripal, 33, after it emerged she was improving rapidly.

An FCO spokeswoman said: “We are considering requests for consular access in line with our obligations under international and domestic law, including the rights and wishes of Yulia Skripal.”

Mr Skripal remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

The Russian embassy also accused British authorities of “another blatant provocation” after an Aeroflot flight was allegedly searched by Border Force officers at Heathrow.

An embassy official suggested that the jet, which had arrived from Moscow on a scheduled return trip, had been searched in connection with the diplomatic crisis over the Salisbury spy poisoning.

The row intensified after the Kremlin ordered Britain to reduce the number of diplomats in Moscow down to the same amount that Russia has in London.

In response to reports that more than 50 British diplomats would be removed, the embassy said: “It is not about expulsion of British diplomats, it is about setting the overall number of people working at UK diplomatic missions in Russia and Russian diplomatic missions in the UK on the same level.”

The UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats in the wake of the poisoning of Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia with the nerve agent Novichok.

Russia has told a number of countries – including Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Norway and Australia – they must send home the same number of diplomats as they had ordered to leave their nations.

So far, more than 150 Russian diplomats, some of whom are suspected spies, have been told to return home by the UK’s allies.

Scotland Yard believes Mr Skripal and his daughter, who was visiting him from Russia, first came into contact with the deadly chemical at his home.

Detailed forensic testing revealed the highest concentration of Novichok was found on the front door.

 Mr Skripal and his daughter have been patients at Salisbury District Hospital since they were discovered unconscious on a park bench close to The Maltings shopping centre nearly four weeks ago.

Wiltshire Police Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who was also exposed to the nerve agent, was discharged from the hospital last week.</s>The Foreign Office has said it is considering a request from Russia to see Yulia Skripal over the Salisbury poisoning. The Russian embassy tweeted to demand to see her in hospital, despite the fact the UK Government has accused the Russian state of being behind the nerve agent attack on her and her father, former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal. The embassy tweeted on Friday that it was “good news” Yulia Skripal’s condition was improving and added they “insist on our right to see her” in hospital in Salisbury, where she has been since the poisoning on March 4.

On Saturday, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are considering requests for consular access in line with our obligations under international and domestic law, including the rights and wishes of Yulia Skripal.” Yulia Skripal, 33, has spent three weeks in a critical condition after she and her father were exposed to Novichok. Sergei Skripal, 66, father remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital. On Thursday, the hospital said Yulia Skripal is “improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition”. “She has responded well to treatment but continues to receive expert clinical care 24 hours a day,” the hospital said. Russia has denied any involvement in the attack. Governments, including the UK and US, have expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning.

Russia has expelled 23 British diplomats from Moscow in a tit-for-tat response to Britain expelling the same number of Russians. On Friday, the Kremlin ordered Britain to further reduce the number of diplomats in Moscow down to the same amount that Russia has in London. It came as ambassadors from more than 20 countries were called into the foreign ministry in Moscow to be told of the latest wave of retaliatory measures being imposed. The Russian embassy also accused British authorities of “another blatant provocation” after an Aeroflot flight was allegedly searched by Border Force officers at Heathrow. An embassy official suggested that the jet, which had arrived from Moscow on a scheduled return trip, had been searched in connection with the diplomatic crisis over the Salisbury spy poisoning.</s>MOSCOW (AP) — Russian diplomats and their families climbed aboard buses and left their embassy in Washington on Saturday while across the Atlantic, American envoys took down the flag from outside the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg, loaded up boxes, closed the office down and headed home.

The moves were the latest in a spy poisoning case that has escalated East-West tensions, with both sides expelling more than 150 of each other's diplomats from two dozen countries.

Britain has insisted that the Russian government was behind the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter March 4 in the English city of Salisbury, a charge the Russians vehemently deny.

The Tass news agency says all of the 60 Russian diplomats ordered out of the United States were heading for a homebound flight on Saturday night.

In St. Petersburg, workers at the US consulate hurried to meet the Saturday deadline to close the consulate, imposed by Russia just two days earlier. In brief comments to reporters, U.S. Consul-General Thomas Leary said "we are ready to leave."

A truck with bags and boxes left the consulate in the late afternoon, its driver waving and honking his horn several times. Outside the elegant 19th-century building, someone had placed four yellow tulips and a card from neighbors reading "hope to see you again."

City workers came to inspect the building late Saturday, but it was not clear if all the staff had departed.

Russians watching the activity expressed mixed views on the consulate's closure.

"The American side always knows that we can strike back if we are attacked," said Valentina Petrova, 77.

But 24-year-old Artem Zykov saw it differently.

"Russia should have found different mechanisms to respond without such radical measures," Zykov said.

British officials, meanwhile, said Saturday the government is considering Russia's request for access to the daughter of the former Russian double agent. Russian officials insist they have a legal right to see 33-year-old Yulia Skripal, who lived in Moscow and was visiting her father, Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury when they were attacked with a nerve agent that apparently came through his front door.

The Foreign Office said it was reviewing the Russian request "in line with our obligations under international and domestic law," adding that the government's consideration will include "the rights and wishes of Yulia Skripal."

British officials say she is recovering in the hospital while her 66-year-old father remains in critical condition.

The Russian Embassy in London called her recovery "good news" in a tweet Friday and said Russian diplomats had a right to see her under the 1968 Consular Convention.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday also issued lists of questions it wants Britain and France to answer in the case, including to what extent French investigators have been involved in probing the poisoning and why.

Russia contends that Britain is exploiting "Russophobia" to undermine Moscow. On Saturday, its London embassy issued a statement warning Russians travelling to the U.K. that they could be subject to "provocations" including having various items planted in their luggage.

In another illustration of the deteriorating relations, the Russian Embassy in Britain complained about the alleged search of a Russian airliner at London's Heathrow Airport.

The embassy said British Border Forces and Customs officers searched an Aeroflot flight from Moscow on Friday in violation of international rules. In a tweet, the embassy called it "another blatant provocation by the British authorities."

British officials responded Saturday that it's routine to search some incoming flights. Russia has sent a diplomatic note demanding an explanation of the search, which delayed the flight to Moscow.

Katz reported from London. Lynn Berry in Washington and Irina Titova in St. Petersburg contributed.</s>UK authorities have one month to reduce the number of staff at its embassy and consulate in Russia to that of Russia's diplomatic presence in the United Kingdom, according to the statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

READ MORE: Ex-Russian FSB Agent Blasts UK PM May for 'Illiterate' Skripal Case Accusations

The statement also said that British ambassador to Moscow Laurie Bristow was summoned to the foreign ministry building and given a note of protest. The ministry added that Russia remained ready to cooperate with the United Kingdom on the investigation into the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal either within the international legal framework or o the bilateral level.

The UK Foreign Office, in turn, expressed the regret over Moscow's steps but said that they had been anticipated.

"This doesn't change the facts of the matter: the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable. Russia is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention and actions by countries around the world have demonstrated the depth of international concern," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

Bristow was one of the representatives of European countries that had been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, along with the ambassadors of Italy, Poland, Netherlands, Albania, Romania, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark and Greece.

This comes after on Thursday Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov promised to expel diplomats from those countries that had expelled Russian diplomats in a move of support for UK Prime Minister Theresa May's accusations regarding Moscow's involvement in the poisoning of ex-GRU officer Sergei Skripal. More than 20 countries have expelled over 150 Russian diplomats in solidarity with the UK.

Moscow has repeatedly denied the "baseless" accusations and demanded access to the case's materials, including samples of the nerve gas, allegedly used to poison the Skripals. The request was denied by London.</s>Russia complains about alleged search of airplane in London

LONDON (AP) — The Russian Embassy in Britain has complained about the alleged search of a Russian airliner that landed at London's Heathrow Airport.

The embassy said British Border Forces and Customs officers searched an Aeroflot flight from Moscow Friday in violation of international rules.

In a tweet, the embassy called night called the alleged search "another blatant provocation by the British authorities" over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in England.

The British government did not immediately comment on the embassy's complaint.

Russia says it has sent a diplomatic note demanding an explanation of the search.

Both sides have expelled diplomats as Britain blames Russia for the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Sergei Skripal remains in critical condition, while officials say Yulia Skripal is improving.</s>Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

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MOSCOW: Moscow has told Britain it must cut ‘just over 50’ more of its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia in a worsening standoff over the poisoning of a Russian former spy and his daughter in England, the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

As relations continued to deteriorate, Moscow also demanded an official explanation for the search of a Russian passenger plane in London on Thursday and said it could reserve the right to take similar action against British airlines in Russia.

More than 100 Russian diplomats have been expelled by various countries, including 23 from Britain itself, to punish the Kremlin over the March 4 attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the historic English city of Salisbury.

London says Moscow was responsible for poisoning the Skripals in the first known use of a military-grade nerve agent on European soil since World War Two.

Russia flatly denies that and has cast the allegations as part of an elaborate Western plot to sabotage East-West relations and isolate Moscow.

Russia had already retaliated in kind by ejecting 23 British diplomats.

On Friday, the Foreign Ministry summoned British Ambassador Laurie Bristow and told him London had one month to further cut its diplomatic contingent in Russia to the same size as the Russian mission in Britain.

It also expelled 59 diplomats from 23 other countries for backing Britain.

A spokeswoman for Britain’s foreign ministry called the Russian move regrettable, and said it was considering the implications of the measures.

It did not say how many diplomatic staff in Russia would be affected, while the British Embassy in Moscow says it does not make staff numbers public.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Reuters the demand meant Britain would have to cut ‘a little over 50’ more of its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia on top of the 23 diplomats who have already gone home.

“We asked for parity. The Brits have 50 diplomats more than the Russians,” Zakharova said yesterday.

When asked if that meant London would now have to cut exactly 50 diplomatic and technical staff, she said: “A little over 50.”

Separately, Russia’s Ministry of Transport demanded Britain explain why an Aeroflot passenger plane was searched at Heathrow airport on Friday, in what the Russian Embassy in London called a ‘blatant provocation’.

Britain’s interior ministry was not immediately available to comment on the plane search. Britain’s foreign office also said it was considering allowing visits under consular access terms to Yulia Skripal, who is recovering in hospital against all expectations and no longer in critical condition.

Russia’s embassy said that it had contacted Viktoria Skripal, Yulia’s cousin, who would like to see her.

The BBC, citing sources, reported on Friday that Yulia was “conscious and talking,” a factor which may influence the investigation of how she and her father were poisoned.

Britain must now decide how it wants to make the cuts to its Russian diplomatic team and may be forced to lay off some Russian support staff as well as sending home fully-fledged diplomats to satisfy Moscow’s demand.

Russia ordered the closure of another British consulate, in St Petersburg, earlier this month in its first retaliatory step.

The poisoning on UK territory has united much of the West in taking action against what it regards as the hostile policies of President Vladimir Putin.

This includes the United States under President Donald Trump, who Putin had hoped would improve ties. — Reuters</s>LONDON (AP) — The Russian Embassy in Britain has complained about the alleged search of a Russian airliner that landed at London’s Heathrow Airport.

The embassy said British Border Forces and Customs officers searched an Aeroflot flight from Moscow Friday in violation of international rules.

In a tweet, the embassy called night called the alleged search “another blatant provocation by the British authorities” over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in England.

The British government did not immediately comment on the embassy’s complaint.

Russia says it has sent a diplomatic note demanding an explanation of the search.

Both sides have expelled diplomats as Britain blames Russia for the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Sergei Skripal remains in critical condition, while officials say Yulia Skripal is improving.</s>Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. said this week that the “atmosphere in Washington is poison” towards his nation, defending the Kremlin against allegations of attempted murder and election interference in the U.S.

“I have thought a lot about the situation. I’m not sure that everybody will like what I will say… but it seems to me atmosphere in Washington is poison. Is poisoned. It’s a toxic atmosphere,” Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov told NBC’s “Today” show in an interview that aired Friday morning. “I made a joke with my press secretary saying today Russia is responsible for everything, even for bad weather. It’s high time for us to stop blaming each other. It’s high time for us to start real conversation about real problems.”

Against allegations that his government was behind the attempted murder of a Russian spy earlier this month in England and that it mounted a campaign to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Antonov said the Kremlin has yet to see proof from either the U.S. or the United Kingdom proving such accusations. The 13 Russian individuals indicted last month by special counsel Robert Mueller over their alleged efforts to meddle in the U.S. election have not violated any Russian laws, Antonov said.

Antonov’s comments about the political atmosphere in Washington aren’t without merit. The ambassador recently reached out to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) seeking advice on how to meet U.S. lawmakers and government officials, who have for the most part avoided Antonov.

The Russian ambassador also suggested that the Kremlin would have no motive to try to assassinate former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who along with his daughter Yulia Skripal, was poisoned earlier this month, according to the British government, with a nerve agent that is only manufactured in Russia. Skripal had spent five years in a Russian jail and then several years in the U.K. before the attempt on his life, Antonov said, posing the question as to why Moscow would order his assassination only recently, days before a Russian presidential election.

In response to Skripal’s attempted assassination, the U.S. expelled 60 Russian diplomats – whom the Trump administration said are actually intelligence officers – and ordered closed Russia’s consulate in Seattle. Russia, in retaliation, expelled 60 American diplomats and closed the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg.

“If anybody slap your cheek, your face, what will be reaction from your side?” Antonov said. “You will think – not you will think, you will try to do and you will retaliate. It goes without saying.”</s>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow has told Britain it must cut just over 50 more of its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia as a standoff deepened over the poisoning of a Russian former spy and his daughter in England, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Moscow also demanded an official explanation for the search of a Russian passenger plane in London, saying it reserved the right to act similarly against British airlines in Russia. Britain said the search was routine.

Russia advised its citizens to think carefully before traveling to Britain, warning they could fall victim to official harassment.

More than 100 Russian diplomats have been expelled by Western countries, including 23 from Britain, to punish the Kremlin over the March 4 attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the historic English city of Salisbury.

London says Moscow was responsible for the first known use of a military-grade nerve agent on European soil since World War Two, and Britain’s defense minister on Saturday said it was “heartening” to see the backing of international allies.

“The world’s patience with Putin’s repeated pattern of malign behavior has worn thin,” Gavin Williamson wrote in a newspaper column, urging that Britain’s defense capabilities needed to keep better step with Russia’s broadening tactics.

Russia denies responsibility for the attack. It has cast the allegations as a Western plot to sabotage East-West relations and isolate Moscow.

Russia had already retaliated in kind by ejecting 23 British diplomats. On Friday, the Foreign Ministry summoned British Ambassador Laurie Bristow and told him London had one month to further cut its diplomatic contingent in Russia to the same size as the Russian mission in Britain. It also expelled 59 diplomats from 23 other countries for backing Britain.

A spokeswoman for Britain’s Foreign Office called the Russian move regrettable, and said it was considering the implications of the measures. She did not say how many diplomatic staff in Russia would be affected, while the British Embassy in Moscow says it does not make staff numbers public.

But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the demand meant Britain would have to cut “a little over 50” more of its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia on top of the 23 diplomats who have already gone home.

“We asked for parity. The Brits have 50 diplomats more than the Russians,” Zakharova said on Saturday.

Asked if that meant London would now have to cut exactly 50 diplomatic and technical staff, she said: “A little over 50.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry later published a list of 14 questions its London embassy had sent Britain’s Foreign Office. It included queries about why Russia had been denied consular access to the Skripals and about France’s role in the case.

In a move underlining the serious nature of the diplomatic crisis, the Russian Embassy also advised Russians to think twice before traveling to Britain, warning of rising anti-Russian sentiment and possible harassment from the authorities, including the risk of objects being planted in their luggage.

“We can’t rule out increased attention by British law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to Russian passport holders,” the embassy said in a statement.

Russia’s Ministry of Transport meanwhile demanded Britain explain an Aeroflot (AFLT.MM) airliner was searched at Heathrow Airport on Friday, in what the Russian Embassy in London called a “blatant provocation”.

“It is routine for (Britain’s border agency) to search aircraft to protect the UK from organized crime and from those who attempt to bring harmful substances like drugs or firearms into the country,” Security Minister Ben Wallace said.

The Russian Embassy said Wallace’s logic was “difficult to comprehend” and only amplified its doubts about the incident.

Britain’s Foreign Office also said on Saturday it was considering allowing visits under consular access terms to Yulia Skripal, who is recovering in hospital against all expectations and is no longer in critical condition.

Russia’s embassy said that it had contacted Viktoria Skripal, Yulia’s cousin. “Upon receiving confirmation that Yulia Skripal’s condition is getting better and she is able to communicate, she said she would like to go to London and to visit her cousin,” the embassy said.

The BBC reported on Friday that Yulia was “conscious and talking,” which may help the investigation of how she and her father were poisoned.

The poisoning on British territory has united much of the West in taking action against what it regards as the hostile policies of President Vladimir Putin. This includes the United States under President Donald Trump, whom Putin had hoped would improve ties.
The United Kingdom Foreign Office considers a consular request from the government of Russia for visitation with Yulia Skripal, the daughter of poisoned ex-spy Sergei Skripal.