London Uses Skripal Story to Distract Public From More Serious Issues - Analyst

Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, suspected by London of being involved in the poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, have agreed to an exclusive interview with RT and Sputnik after Russian President Vladimir Putin had urged them to address the media.

Sputnik discussed the long-awaited interview with political commentator, Ollie Richardson.

Sputnik: Now that the interview has been aired, what position does it put the UK into?

Ollie Richardson: As is said, the ball is back in London's court. By mentioning the names of Aleksandr Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov and publishing photographs of them in the street, the British government hoped to put Moscow into a corner, in the same way, that they hoped the Mirror newspaper's "exposé" involving Oleg Kalugin would add the cherry on top of their "Novichok" cake.

So what Russia has just done, broadcasting an interview with the two people in question, is simply Russia's next move on the chess board. It must be said though that on September 10th the Daily Mail ran a headline implying that Petrov and Boshirov had been killed, so in this regard, the UK media has suffered another blow to its already laughable reputation.

Sputnik: What reaction are you expecting from London and the Western community for this matter?

Ollie Richardson: The most predictable reaction, which in fact is already in circulation in both the media and the government, is one where Russia is accused of either putting a gun to both Boshirov and Petrov's heads and demanding that they read the provided script or Russia, in general, is lying. This reaction, of course, is a projection of what London itself did vis-a-vis Yulia Skripal when she sat down with Reuters and gave a very nervous-looking interview and looked in good health for someone who had allegedly just been poisoned by a "military-grade nerve agent".

READ MORE: WATCH Skripal Poisoning "Suspects" Reveal Why They Visited Salisbury

In general, I expect London to continue to drive this affair into a cul-de-sac, since it isn't interested in reaching any actual final conclusion, but prefers rather to use the process to distract the British people from more important matters, such as Downing Streets's involvement in financing the terrorists involved in the 2017 Manchester bombing.

Sputnik: What do you make of London’s attempts to present the two as agents of GRU and imply that the Skripal attack was approved at a senior level of the Russian state?

Ollie Richardson: The London-Washington-Brussels axis is currently waging a war against Vladimir Putin's Russia across 3 main axes: Syria, Ukraine, and inside Russia itself. These fronts in isolation are rather weak and are essentially a zero-sum game. But collectively they propel a greater sum that is designed to cause tectonic shifts inside Russian society.

READ MORE: Sputnik Editor-in-Chief Interviews Skripal Poisoning "Suspects"

For example, unauthorized rallies against pension reform happen at the same time as Russia is accused of bombing hospitals and schools in Idlib, which in turn happens in conjunction with Petro Poroshenko's non-stop anti-Russian propaganda machine. The Skripal affair in this scheme acts like mortar in between the bricks.

Sputnik: With the latest developments in mind, where is the whole Skripal saga is leading us to?

Ollie Richardson: Since history always repeats itself and everything in this world is inter-connected, the Skripal saga will play out in the same way that all the other provocations, staged by the West, MH-17 being the most similar example, have played out. I.e., Russia will continue to be demanded to prove a negative, to prove that it DIDN'T do something, which of course is a logical fallacy since the burden of proof is on London.

However, it's unlikely that Theresa May's government would've resorted to such, frankly speaking, lunatic measures if she didn't think that such organizations such as the OPCW could be manipulated and brought to heel.

But what London cannot control is the degradation of the internal situation in Ukraine and the inevitable defeat of Jabhat al-Nusra* & Co in Idlib. And it is the outcomes of these processes that ultimately negate what London is trying to do with this Skripal circus.

*Jabhat al-Nusra (also known as Tahrir al-Sham) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia

Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.