Theresa May, Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom (UK) will tell a summit of EU leaders in Brussels that
they must remain united against a threat from Russia to all European
democracies.
The Prime Minister will say the nerve agent attack in Salisbury
shows Moscow has no respect for international law.
A senior Whitehall official said Russia had “shown itself to be a
strategic enemy not a strategic partner”.
European leaders are also due to decide whether or not to
agree the terms for a 21-month Brexit transition period.
Mrs May, who will not be present when the other EU leaders
discuss Brexit on Friday, will brief her counterparts on Thursday on the
poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in
Salisbury.
The European Council is expected to adopt conclusions
strongly condemning the attack, which the UK government has said
the Russian state was culpable for, but which Russia denies.
At the UK, Theresa May has taken a firm rhetorical tone, in
response to the nerve agent attack in Salisbury.
What the government hopes for in the next 24 hours though is
that the other EU nations are willing to come alongside in the same
way.
The US, UK, France and Germany signed up to a very strong
and uncompromising statement last week. But, the Prime Minister will
use blunt language on Thursday night to try to create a similarly strong
and united front among the other 27 EU member states, the BBC
reported.
Source: Oman News Agency