Trump refuses to “cut off” relations with Russia over Salisbury and Amesbury incidents
US President Donald Trump said he would not cut ties with Russia over two toxic chemical incidents in the UK, the Sun newspaper reported.
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| US President Donald Trump. |
"I think getting along with China and Russia is good," Donald Trump told the publication in response to a question about whether he might reconsider attending a scheduled July 16 meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki over the events in Salisbury and Amesbury.
Former Russian spy Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in the British city of Salisbury on March 4, sparking an international scandal. London asserted that the poisoning of the Skripals with the nerve agent A234 was carried out by the Russian government, an allegation Moscow vehemently denied.
On the morning of 4 July, police said that two British nationals, a 44-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man, were found unconscious at a house in Amesbury. Scotland Yard said that the man and woman had been poisoned with the same substance used in the Skripal attack in Salisbury. The investigation is still ongoing, with around a hundred officers from various counter-terrorism units involved.
The talks between the Russian and US presidents are scheduled to take place on July 16.
