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MOSCOW’S DENIALS OVER its involvement in the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain are growing “increasingly absurd”, British foreign minister Boris Johnson said today.
The Kremlin has rejected allegations by London and its allies that Russia was behind the 4 March attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury as “nonsense”.
As international chemical weapons experts were due to arrive in Britain to investigate the incident, European Union foreign ministers voiced their support for Britain as they gathered for a meeting in Brussels today.
“The Russian denials grow increasingly absurd,” Johnson said as he arrived for the meeting.
This is a classic Russian strategy of trying to conceal the needle of truth in a haystack of lies and obfuscation.
London says the Soviet-designed military grade nerve agent Novichok was used to target Skripal. On Thursday Britain, France, Germany and the United States issued a joint statement blaming Russia for the first offensive use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War 2.
“What really strikes me, talking to European friends and partners today, is that 12 years after the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko in London, they’re not fooling anybody any more,” Johnson said.
There is scarcely a country round the table here in Brussels that has not been affected in recent years by some kind of malign or disruptive Russian behaviour.
Russian dissident Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive agent polonium in London in 2006 in an attack Britain also blamed on the Kremlin.
Johnson will update his European counterparts on the investigation, but today’s meeting is not expected to agree any measures targeting Russia, which is already under heavy EU sanctions over its annexation of Crimea and meddling in Ukraine.
The EU’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc stood in “full solidarity” with Britain over the incident, which she called “completely unacceptable”.
EU leaders are also set to discuss the issue at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and suspended high-level contacts, including announcing that British royals and ministers would boycott this summer’s football World Cup in Russia.
Moscow has expelled 23 British diplomats in a tit-for-tat measure and said it would halt the activities of the British Council in Russia.
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Welcome to the reality of supporting some one with a difference here , talk to parents and siblings about how we have to fight for everything.
Fair play to the foster carers for contacting the Ombudsman and therefore going up against Tusla and the HSE. Not a decision taken lightly. There is a bullying mentality when you go against these agencies. Hopefully now the child and her family will get the supports they need. It’s disgraceful that the family had to put themselves through the stress and pressure to get the outcome.
@Clare Sharkey: Sad thing is that TUSLA are in the process of moving the child into a residential type setting and removing her from the wonderful foster family. Wouldn’t it be much easier to put the supports in place and leave her with the loving foster family.
@Lorraine Roche: its a power struggle. Easier to blame foster carers than themselves.
It’s not only children with disabilities who are in care the system is failing it’s children with disabilities full stop. Your child with a disability is accepted into a service-8-18 disability service- they then have to go on waiting lists within that service for Speech& Language, Occupational Therapy, Psychologist etc…. Services are badly organised and seriously under resourced.
A certain spectacle Senator with his “human rights activists” friends will be working tirelessly on this one.
“bespectacled
@Are roo from Cork: think you were right first time.
Abandoned at birth !!!!!????
The poor Girl can expect a lifetime of neglect by the state, funding is ridiculously low in the intellectual disability area, from childhood right through to Adult services!
The Government should take control of all services and streamline while increasing funding – the current system with dozens of organisations with CEO’s on mainly over €100k with generous expenses is putting tax money into the wrong hands instead of into the frontline where conditions have plummeted and staff under severe pressure are leaving disillusioned!
Put the money where it matters and strip away the red tape to give those with disabilities the services they deserve- too much of a gravy train at present!
@David Grey: leo will be in shortly saying how “it shouldn’t be like this”
have your say