UK's effort to rally allies over Sergei Skripal poisoning may fall short

The British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has said he is encouraged by the response from friends willing to rally to the UK cause over the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. But EU officials warned privately that the bloc’s existing consensus on further sanctions against Russia has already been cracking, and it may be impossible to forge collective agreement on new measures.

One official said the best that may happen is that the EU resolves to stick to its existing sanctions position rather than see it diluted.

Following a round of diplomatic phonecalls coordinated with Number 10, Johnson had been buoyed by support overnight from the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, only to find that Donald Trump had fired him after repeated run-ins.

Trump himself said on Tuesday that he would speak to Theresa May about the poison attack, after facing criticism for not swinging clearly behind the UK view that the Russian government was either responsible for the attack or for failing to control its nerve agent stocks. “It sounds to me that it would be Russia based on all the evidence they have,” he said. “As soon as we get the facts straight, if we agree with them, we will condemn Russia or whoever it may be.”

Source: theguardian