The British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, will secure the support of European Union allies on Monday over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. EU foreign ministers meeting at the Foreign Affairs Council will hear a report from Johnson on the evidence surrounding the attack and Russia’s alleged responsibility. Chemical weapons conventionMinisters’ emphasis over Salisbury, diplomatic sources say, will be on seeing the activation of the mechanisms of the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which enforces the chemical weapons convention. The EU will certainly support the UK in any move to send weapons inspectors into Russia to view its programme, given Russia’s 1997 signature of the convention. Britain, France and Germany have launched a discussion on fresh EU sanctions aimed at mollifying Washington by increasing separate pressure on Iran over its ballistic-missile programme and military activity in the region, from Syria to Yemen.

Source: The Irish Times March 19, 2018 05:03 UTC