Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to urge joint action among European Union states at a summit in Brussels yesterday, where she will also try to persuade the bloc's leaders to condemn Russia squarely over the attack in Salisbury, Reuters reported. She accused Russia of the first known offensive use of a nerve toxin in Europe since World War II after former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a public bench in the English city on March 4. European Council president Donald Tusk said: “(The) European Council agrees with UK government that highly likely Russia is responsible for Salisbury attack and that there is no other plausible explanation.”

Welcoming the support from the other 27 EU leaders, Mrs May said is was right they were standing together. She said: “I welcome the fact that the EU Council has agreed with the United Kingdom Government’s assessment that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attempted murder that took place on the streets of Salisbury and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. Mr Rutte said the diplomat was being recalled as a “measure” and the move was not a “sanction” against Moscow. Foreign ministers of the 28-nation bloc issued a statement on Monday voicing “unqualified solidarity” with the UK, but stopping short of pointing the finger of blame at Moscow for the March 4 attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. In her address to the other 27 EU leaders over dinner, the Prime Minister set out the four pillars of evidence which the UK believe put Russia in the frame:

– The positive identification by experts at Porton Down of the specific chemical used as a type of Novichok nerve agent;

– The knowledge that Russia has produced this agent within the last 10 years and remains capable of doing so;

– Britain’s assessment that Russia views defectors as suitable targets for assassination. Mrs May also shared top-grade UK intelligence on the attack with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s president Emmanuel Macron on the margins of the summit to discuss the international response to Salisbury. “I will be raising this issue with my counterparts today because it is clear that the Russian threat doesn’t respect borders and indeed the incident in Salisbury was part of a pattern of Russian aggression against Europe and its near neighbours from the western Balkans to the Middle East.”

Meanwhile, in London, Russia’s ambassador Alexander Yakovenko condemned Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s comparison between Mr Putin hosting this summer’s World Cup with Hitler’s 1936 Olympics as an “insult” to the Russian people. But Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras was more cautious, saying: “We have to express solidarity to the British people for the Salisbury case, but we also need to be responsible on that issue.”

Arriving at the summit, Mrs May said she would tell fellow leaders that she sees the attack on Mr Skripal as part of a pattern of Russian aggression which threatens the continent’s democracies and requires a united response. In a statement Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey said he had been “overwhelmed” by the messages of support, but acknowledged: “Normal life for me will probably never be the same.”

Meanwhile a Court of Protection judge has given doctors permission to take blood from the Skripals – who remain in a critical condition in hospital – and to provide samples to chemical weapons experts.
British Prime Minister Theresa May calls the incident "part of a pattern of Russian aggression against Europe" and promises to raise the matter at an upcoming European Union summit.