Russia warns Britain is "playing with fire."

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia at a meeting on April 5. Photo: Reuters

The United States, France, Poland, Sweden, and the Netherlands, both permanent and non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), have opposed Russia's request for a joint investigation with Britain, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.

The meeting, held at Russia's request, opened with mutual criticism and accusations between the Russian and British representatives at the UN.

"The Russian side has warned their British counterparts that they are playing with fire and will soon regret it," emphasized Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, asserting that accusations that Russia poisoned former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain are absurd.

The Russian diplomat posed a series of questions to show that the Sergei Skripal case was surrounded by "a jungle of absurdities" and that it was a campaign to tarnish Russia's image.

"Why did we wait eight years before deciding to act against Sergei Skripal and his daughter just two weeks before the Russian presidential election and a few weeks before the World Cup? Why did we release him only to go to England years later and carry out an extremely dangerous assassination in broad daylight?" Ambassador Nebenzia questioned.

The Russian ambassador also questioned the recovery of the former spy and his daughter. He argued that if a chemical poison, which Britain claims originated in Russia, had been used, they would certainly have died because it is an extremely toxic substance, long banned by the UN. Yet, both father and daughter recovered and made their first contact with relatives in Russia on April 5th.

According to Ambassador Nebenzia, this indicates that the antidote was prepared and injected into the two individuals immediately after poisoning them.

When asked what he meant by saying "the British will regret it" after the meeting, the Russian ambassador replied succinctly: "The British accusations against Russia are untrue. A normal person should regret that."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on April 5th that Moscow would only accept the results of the investigation into the poisoning of Sergei Skripal if and only if Russian scientists were involved.

"All 10 requests from Russia to participate in the investigation, submitted since March 12, have been ignored," Tass news agency quoted Lavrov as emphasizing.

British Ambassador to the UN Karen Pierce. Photo: Reuters

British Ambassador to the UN Karen Pierce responded to all the criticism from her Russian counterpart. Pierce stated that British police had reviewed over 5,000 hours of security camera footage, collected over 1,300 pieces of evidence, and interviewed nearly 500 people. All of this led to the conclusion that the Russians were very likely behind the poisoning.

Ms. Pierce also argued that the international community knows right from wrong, pointing out that the Executive Board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had rejected Russia's proposal for a joint investigation on April 4. The British representative to the UN did not forget to recall how Russia had initially refused when Britain offered to assist in the investigation.

"We all know why this investigation is being launched. Because a military chemical weapon was used to kill civilians on British soil. It was done recklessly and endangered the community," Ms. Pierce stressed at the April 5 meeting.

Bao Duy