FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Russian Foreign Ministry’s Zakharova Warns of Nuclear Games by ‘Poisonous London’
March 17, 2018 (EIRNS)—Interviewed on March 13 by Rossiya-1 TV’s “60 Minutes” program, the day after British Prime Minister Theresa May’s preposterous ultimatum to the Russian government on the “poisoned ex-spy” case, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told her hosts that she would not talk about London and poison, but rather “about a poisonous London.”
Zakharova called the British Prime Minister’s “circus” act in Parliament “a classic example of the British propaganda machine ... insinuating that, ‘it could’ve been Russia, might’ve been Russia.’ ” But this is a very dangerous “circus,” Zakharova made clear. May gave no proof, no facts, yet ordered the Russian government to give answers within 24 hours, she said. “Such statements are made by a Prime Minister who is a member of a nuclear country that is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
Zakharova reminded viewers of President Putin’s March 1 revelations on the defensive strategic weapon systems Russia has developed.
“Is it clear to everyone why we need the weapons? Now, after this show at the U.K. Parliament, everyone must understand that, after what the President has talked about, not one person in the Parliament can just say, ‘I give Russia 24 hours.’
“I’ll say it again. We’re talking about London, the capital of a nuclear nation. Who did they give 24 hours to? What did they give 24 hours for?...
“Let’s call it what it is. Don’t call it an incident. It’s a grand international provocation,”
she warned.
She cited former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s so-called apology for the fake intelligence used to start the Iraq War, and asked,
“How can we believe people who have already apologized for hundreds of millions of ruined lives?... They have yet to apologize to even a single country where their soldiers set foot, where civilians died, where normal lives turned to ruins because of their plots and schemes.... Not one story of the same nature has resulted in any sort of truth.”
Zakharova also made clear that the Russian government continues to urge the United States not to succumb to “poisonous London.” To the complaint by one of the hosts that the U.S., with which Russia has an intelligence-sharing mechanism, did not even ask Russia whether the nerve agent alleged to have been used was Russia’s, she responded:
“Look, there are terrorist attacks in Syria, so the sides, Moscow and the U.S., they’re chefs in the same kitchen. Terrorism is a mutual problem; it’s everywhere. So they are attempting to bring back that level of trust that we used to have in our dialogues.”
She cited Russian intelligence’s earlier efforts to warn their American colleagues about the Boston Marathon bomber, where unfortunately the U.S.
“did not take that information seriously. Let’s look at recent events. Our U.S. partners gave us, the Russians, information.... That data was properly processed and a terrorist attack was prevented. These attempts immediately get criticized in Washington. Why? What for? Regular people, who have nothing to do with politics, who go shopping, go to school, go to theaters, they were saved. That is good!”
