UK to Use Major International Summits to Build Anti-Russia Alliance - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Britain intends to take advantage of upcoming summits this year to persuade its allies to adopt a tougher political line toward Russia in light of the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK and alleged chemical attack in Douma, The Guardian reported on Thursday, citing a source in the UK government.

According to the newspaper, the source referred to four major summits in 2018: the G7 summit in Canada, the G20 summit in Argentina, and the NATO and EU summits.

"The foreign secretary regards Russia’s response to Douma and Salisbury as a turning point and thinks there is international support to do more… The areas the UK are most likely to pursue are countering Russian disinformation and finding a mechanism to enforce accountability for the use of chemical weapons," the source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

UK-Russian relations deteriorated after London accused Moscow of orchestrating Skripal's poisoning with the A234 nerve agent in the UK city of Salisbury in early March. UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats in response. Russian authorities have refuted the allegations as groundless, and ordered the same number of UK diplomats to leave Russia and for the British Council to cease its operations in Russia.

READ MORE: The Skripal and Douma Incidents Are Parts of Plan to Bring Russia Down — Chemist

Relations further worsened after the United Kingdom, along with the United States and France, launched missile strikes on Syria on April 14 in response to the alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government in Duma. Damascus, an ally of Moscow, has denied all allegations.