a" tonight on c-span's "q& professor tom cronin talks about his book "imagining a great republic." >> the reading of major american in termsis empowering of this country stands for something. the great writers, all these .eople are storytellers and they do some -- they try to do something special, a city that loves one another and is willing to work with one another, and understand that politics is indispensable. bring about progress or as many people are possible. at 8:00 eastern

on >> c-span. on wednesday, the united nations security council held a meeting to talk about the recent nerve agent attack on a former russian spy and his daughter in england. this is one hour and 10 minutes. >> the 8,203rd meeting of the security council is called to order. the provisional agenda for this meeting is letter dated 13th of march 2018 from the permanent mission of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland to the united nations addressed to the president of the security council/2018/218. the agenda is adopted. the security council will now begin its consideration of item 2 of the agenda. i wish to draw the attention of council members to document s 2018, 218, the letter

dated 13th of march from the fair of the permanent mission of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland addressed to the president of the security council. i now give the floor to those council members who wish to make statements. i give the floor to the representative of the united kingdom. >> thank you, mr. president and thank you for arranging this urgent meeting of the security council today to give the united kingdom the opportunity to update council colleagues on our investigation into a nerve agent attack in salisbury. on sunday the 4th of march, sergei skripal and his daughter yulia were found in the town center slipping out of consciousness on a public bench and were taken to hospital by our emergency services where

they remain in a very serious condition. investigations by world-leading experts of the defense, science and technology be la labboratory accredited by opcw, discovered that they had been exposed to a nerve agent. british police nick bailey remains in hospital and in serious condition. hundreds of british citizens have been potentially exposed to this nerve agent in what was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the united kingdom. we have deployed our military to decontaminate numerous sites and the police continue an exhaustive, wide-scale investigation. through those investigations we have concluded that mr. skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by russia. it is

not a weapon which can be manufactured by non-state actors. it is so dangerous that it requires the highest-grade state laboratories and expertise. based on the knowledge that russia has previously produced this agent and combined with russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations including against former intelligence officers whom they regard as targets, the uk government concluded it was highly likely that russia was responsible for this reckless act. we saw two plausible explanations, either this was a direct attack by russia on my country or russia had lost control of a military-grade nerve agent which they had developed. we requested the russian government to provide an explanation by the end of tuesday, the 13th of march on how this russian-produced nerve agent could have been deployed in salisbury. they provided no

credible explanation which could suggest they lost control of their nerve agent. mr. president, we therefore, have no alternative, but to conclude that the russian state was responsible for the attempted murder of mr. skripal and his daughter and police officer nick bailey, and for threatening the lives of other british citizens in salisbury. mr. president, this was no common crime. it was an unlawful use of force, a violation of article 2 of the united nations charter, the basis of the international legal order. mr. president, the uk is proud to have been one of the states which played an integral role in drafting the chemical weapons convention, a landmark piece of international law. we are therefore dismayed that

russia has suggested that our response fails to meet the requirements of the convention. article 7 of the con version calls on state parties to implement the convention under their own legislation. the united kingdom has enacted the chemical weapons act in order to fully comply with this obligation. that legislation, together with relevant criminal law, is now guiding our investigation into this incident as the convention was designed. this was an attack on uk soil. under the convention, we have the right to lead our response, engaging the opcw and others as appropriate. on the 8th of march, the uk formally notified

the opcw technical secretariat that a chemical attack had taken place on uk soil. the russian federation has complained that we are not using article 9 of the convention. on the contrary, on the 12th of march, once it became clear to us that the united kingdom had been attacked, my foreign secretary summoned the russian ambassador and sought an explanation from his government, as article 9 is clear we have the right to do. we have received no meaningful response. it is, therefore, russia which is failing to comply with the provisions of the convention, and this council should not fall for their attempt to muddy the waters. in addition, the united king dom has welcomed the offer of technical assistance from the director general of the opcw and we have invited the technical secretariat to independently verify our analysis. we are making every effort to expedite this process. mr. president, let us now turn to the part of the chemical weapons convention which russia is not talking about. the part which requires state parties to declare chemical weapons stockpiles and facility which is have been used at any time since 1946 to

produce chemical weapons. chemical weapons would be verifiably destroyed and production facilities destroyed or converted subject to approval within ten years of entry into force to the convention. russia completed destruction of its declared stockpile in september 2017, ten years later than required by the convention and five years beyond the single five-year extension period. russia did not declare and agents and production facilities associated with them as it was required to do under the convention. no development facilities were declared. yet we know from testimony by the russian scientist that novaceks were developed as part of the offensive chemical warfare program and inherited by the russian federation. such facilities associated with that

program should have been declared under the cwc. even today, a russian politician has said that russia has destroyed the nerve gas. mr. president, from all of this we can conclude that russia is in serious breach of the chemical weapons convention through its failure to declare the novacek program. this factor alone mean you can discount the possibility of other countries having inherited this technology. had russia declared and destroyed their own program there might have been some truth to this. mr. president, on the 4th of march, a weapon so horrific that it is banned from use in war was used in a peaceful city in my country. this was a reckless act carried out by people who disregard the sanctity of human life who are indifferent to whether innocents are caught up in their attacks. they either did not care that the weapon used would be traced back to them or mistakenly believed that they could cover their traces.

russian officials and media channels have repeatedly threatened those they consider traitors even after the march attack. russia has a history of state-sponsored assassinations, including to alexander litvinenko poisoned in my country a decade ago. russia has a history in interfering in other countries whether the botched coup in montenegro, repeated cyber attacks on other states or seeking to influence others' democratic processes. russia has a history of flouting international law, most egregiously in crimea, eastern ukraine and georgia. russia shows disregard for civilian life. we all remember flight mh-17 shot down by russian proxies supplied with russian weapons, and russia has shown in its repeated protection of assad's chemical weapons use that it has different standards when it comes to the use of these terrible substances. we have not jumped to conclusions. we have carried out a thorough,

careful investigation which continues. we are asking the opcw to independently verify the nerve agent used. we have offered russia the chance to explain, but russia has refused. we have therefore concluded that the russian state was involved and we have taken certain measures in response. in taking these measures, we have been clear that we have no disagreement with the people of russia who have been responsible for so many great achievements throughout history. it is the reckless acts of their government that we oppose. mr. president, we are grateful for the support of so many countries around the world. we will come back to this council as the investigations make more progress and continue to keep you informed. we have already heard the attacks and threats

that russia has made over the past few days. we know that there will be more to come. this is how russia has acted in every other case where it has been caught flouting international law, denial, distraction and threats. it is what russia does, but we will not let such threats deter us. we will not weaken our resolve. we will stand firm, confident in our democracy, our rule of law and the freedom of our people. we will stand by the values which are shared by the overwhelming majority of those in this council if these united nations and we ask you today to stand by us. thank you, mr. president. >> i rank the representative from the united kingdom for his statement. i now give the floor to the representative of the united states. >> thank you, mr. president, and i thank my british colleagues for calling this important

meeting. we are here to discuss the chemical weapon by one council member in the territory of another council member. let me make clear by the very beginning, the united states stands in absolute solidarity with great britain. the united states believes that russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the united kingdom using a military-grade nerve agent. dozens of civilians and first responders were also exposed. police officer nick bailey was the first to arrive on the scene and remains hospitalized in serious condition. our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this atrocious crime. no two nations enjoy a stronger bond than that of the united states and the united kingdom. ours is

truly a special relationship. when our friends in great britain face a challenge, the united states will always be there for them. always. alone, russia's crime is worthy of this council's action, but this is not an isolated incident. at assassination attempt in salisbury is part of an alarming increase in the use of chemical weapons. last year the north korean regime used the nerve agent vx to publicly assassinate kim jong-un's brother in a malaysian airport. in syria, the assad regime continues to kill its own people with chemical weapons years after this council passed resolution 2118 to remove the threat from syria's chemical weapons program. when the security council created a mechanism so investigate the attacks, that mechanism was targeted when they began to shine a spotlight in arc sad's role in killing his own people. a growing concern in all of this dangerous and destabilizing activity is russia. russia

failed to ensure syria destroyed its chemical weapons program. russia killed the joint investigative mechanism when it found assad liable for chemical attacks. russia used its veto to shield assad five times last year. it has also provided cover for syria at the hague, in the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. the russians complained recently that we criticize them too much. if the russian government stopped using chemical weapons to assassinate its enemies and if the russian government stopped helping its syrian ally to use chemical weapons to kill syrian children and if russia cooperated with the organization

for the prohibition of chemical weapons by turning over all information related to this nerve agent, we would stop talking about them. we take no pleasure in having to constantly criticize russia, but we need russia to stop giving us so many reasons to do so. russia must fully cooperate with the uk's investigation and come clean about its own chemical weapons program. russia is a permanent member of the security council. it is entrusted in the united nations charter with upholding international peace and security. it must account for its actions. if we don't take immediate, concrete measures to address this now, salisbury will not be the last place we see chemical weapons used. they could be used here in new york or in cities of any country that sits on this council. this is a defining moment. time and time

again, member states say they oppose the use of chemical weapons under any circumstance. now one member stands accused of using chemical weapons on the sovereign soil of another member. the credibility of this council will not survive if we fail to hold russia accountable. >> i thank the representative of the united states for her statement. i now give the floor to the representative of france. translator: mr. president, i would like to thank the united kingdom for take the initiative to call for this important meeting and i thank you for the information that you have provided with regard to the information you have following the attempted assassination of two russian citizens on the 4th of march in your country in salisbury. allow me at the outset to the friend and ally the united kingdom to renew all the support today that was

expressed yesterday by the highest french authorities following an unacceptable attack which president macron condemned and reservedly in the name of the cardinal values which we all share, the first amongst them, the rule of law. attachment to the principles of peace and security for which this council is the guardian and the guarantor. i would like to express to the united kingdom the full support and complete solidarity of france. there can

be no ambiguity with regard to our position on this. mr. president, let's be clear about this, this attempted assassination in the public area using a toxic nerve agent of military grade as we have heard in the report and which exposed the population to unacceptable risks. the prime minister theresa may spoke today before the house of commons, and has stated that russia is responsible for this attack. we have full confidence in the british investigation to quickly shed light on the precise circumstances for this use of a chemical weapon. it is essential that those that are the origin of the use of this chemical weapon be clearly identified and prosecuted, and that all

appropriate responses be provided as soon as possible to the questions that have legitimately been raised by the united kingdom in its inquiry. let us be clear about this, and the facts and what is at stake are extremely serious. the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons is at the very heart of the non-proliferation regime which theis the foundation, created and enshrined by its council and all of its members. the haphazard re-emergence of these barbaric weapons with such deadly effect which is can be seen by this recurrent use in syria and in the middle east and also in asia and now in europe cannot be tolerated. this flouts the principles on which peace and security are funded. it undermines the architecture of

non-proliferation built stone by stone over the course of decades and it calls into question strategic stability. we pointed out several times before this council that there is a risk with the re-emergence and the proliferation tools and all kinds of actors and the threat that this situation would pose for the collective security system which we have gradually built together. let us be very aware that here we have reached a new stage, namely the use of a substance that was never declared to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, the use of which is prohibited by the convention and we have seen it used in the public area on the territory of the european country. mr. president, france will never accept impunity for those who use and develop toxic agents. we recall here our full support for existing institutions, particularly the opcw. this is also the reason why france last january launched an international partnership aimed at supporting existing instruments to fight impunity in the use of these weapons. mr. president, we more than ever

before must remain mobilized in the fight against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and against the impunity of those who plan to use them. it is a priority for all of us, a major responsibility and one of those that belongs to the security council and according to which we should be judged. you can be assured of france's resolute commitment alongside our partners and allies within this council and in all circumstances which require this respsone. thank you. >> i thank the representative of france for his statement and i now give the floor to the representative of kuwait. >> thank you, mr. president. mr. president, the security council convened this meeting so we can discuss the potential use of a chemical weapon. whatever the wording of the title of the agenda item that we are discussing today, by the charge at i want rim of the uk or any other words, we think that this issue is a true danger and has an impact on the safety of

civilians and this could undermine relations among member states and the opposition of principle is very firm. we condemn the use of chemical weapons and the stockpiling and preservation, transport directly or indirectly, and we base ourselves on article 1 of the chemical weapons convention and we call upon all member states to adhere to this and put an end to all of this stockpiles of chemical and toxic weapons. the united kingdom called for and convened this meeting because of the hostile act committed on the territory on that country, and this is also a violation of international conventions and in particular the one on chemical

weapons which is why we support the right of the united kingdom to carry out all of the necessary investigations on this kind of attack and to undertake all of the necessary measures in this regard and lastly, we call upon all of the states that we have special responsibility in maintaining international peace and security in all other state, as well to continue acting in line with the united nations charter and undertake very clear and sincere steps in order to build a world free of chemical weapons and free of weapons of mass destruction. we recall here resolution 2325 adopted in 2016, the resolution underscored the need to put an end to the proliferation of all kinds of

weapons, chemical, biological or nuclear who are in danger for international peace and security. thank you. show less text >> i thank the representative of kuwait for his statement and i now give the floor to the representative of new guinea. >> thank you very much, mr. president. the republic of equatorial guinea, learned of the incident of the attack using a chemical nerve agent in salisbury in the united kingdom, and we hope that events such as these will be duelly investigated and the result of those investigations made public and those responsible will face justice. with regard to the accusations with regard to the involvement of the russian federation in the event, the accusation made by the united kingdom, the equatorial guinea

hopes that both parties, the uk and the russian federation will be able to resolve the situation in the most appropriate way possible through direct contact contact and by fully clarifying the facts. that's why we recommend that while this investigation has been carried out, both parties, the russian federation and united united kingdom show moderation and we invite both parties to cooperate closely in the investigations being carried out in order to shed light on the situation. we appreciate the initiative of the united kingdom to invite independent experts to carry out the necessary analyses in order to produce results that will be able to explain this very difficult situation. i conclude

my brief comments, mr. president, making clear that the republican of equatorial new guinea is completely against the production and storage and distribution and use of any chemical, biological, back tier logical or any similar products against human beings. because this is contrary to international law in this regard. there fore therefore we fully condemn the use of whoever use is these weapons. we hope that those affected will recover as soon as possible. those have that been affected by this . >> i thank the representative of i think the representative

for his statement. i now yield the floor to the representative of poland. >> alan thicke to think the representative of the united kingdom. we are greatly concerned about the information. attempt to murder them, in endangered the lives of innocent civilians. poland has been a committed chemical of curbing weapons. we condemn this unprecedented attack on u.k., the first of its kind in europe after the second world war. after continued use of chemical , this isn syria another example of the violation of international law and the provisions of the conventional

production of the and use of chemical weapons. full solidarity with the british people and the british government. as well readiness to support our close allies and european theners in conducting investigation. we call on russia to address the uk's questions and to cooperate in this regard. poland expresses its strong conviction that there is no for the use of chemical weapons. they should be held accountable. thank you, mr. president. >> i think the representative of poland. i'm not give the floor to the representative of beirut. >> mr. president, we thank you

andconvening this meeting would like to think the united kingdom for the information they have shared with us. accordance with chapter six of the charter, we believe it is important to ensure the council is informed of regard to situations which could become an international dispute. the use of chemical weapons is a threat to international peace and security. violation for the nonproliferation regime puts at the lives of civilians. sadly, we would bike to express our grave concern at the use of expressagent -- like to our grave concern at the use of a nerve agent in a public place. occurred -- we express our solidarity with the victims.

this incident must be investigated. must fully involved cooperate in a credible investigation to determine what factions are to be applied. finally, we would urge channels of communication to remain open. thank you very much. >> i think the representative of beirut for his statement and give the floor to the representative of sweden. >> thank you very much, mr. president. thank you for updating the security council on the use of nerve agents on the fourth of march.

sweden condemns and strongest terms the attempted murder on u.k.'s, using a nerve agent. we stress the seriousness of ins incident, unprecedented europe in recent years. those responsible for the attack must be identified and held accountable for their heinous actions. given that the nerve agent has been used and the possibility that the attempted murder is linked to state actors, sweden supports the decision by the and other relevant bodies. kingdom,by the united and we express a strong solidarity with the u.k. government and to its efforts in dealing with this grave security issue. we note that the prime minister with theited kingdom class of chemical warfare agents

used was originally developed by the soviet union and inherited by the russian federation. the victimsaccount background, we support the uk's request that russia provide an account of how the agent could have been calm -- could have come to be deployed. every take this opportunity to stress the importance of the ban of chemical weapons. these weapons kill indiscriminately and have no place in the world. we need to ensure the integrity of the typical weapons commission is respected. i think the representative of sweden for his statement and not give the floor to the -- thentative of kustoff next representative. , we learneddent with great distress of the use

of neurotoxic chemical agent on british soil on the fourth of march, 2018 in salisbury. express our sincere solidarity to the authorities of the united kingdom and wish full and speedy recovery to the contaminated. we have always condemned and the use ofo condemn chemical weapons, no matter the form. we therefore request that all like to be shed on the event, which took place in salisbury. thank you. representative -- thank the representative for his statement. kazakhstan is known for its consistent position and an

opponent ofng chemical weapons. we condemn any use of chemical weapons as immoral, inhuman and contrary to the principles of humanity. with thec incident possible use of the warfare agent. it is impermissible to use chemical agents against anyone, anywhere. at the same time, since it is a very political and incentive issue, we should be extremely cautious and careful and drawing hasty conclusions without credible and convincing facts on the ground. the incident should be carefully investigated, and any conclusions should be substantiated. we believe that any national response should be only after the transparent objective and

inartial investigation accordance with international law. we hope that they will be able by -- lve it thank you. thank the -- representative of kazakhstan for his statement and give the floor to the representative of bolivia. >> we take note of the information provided today in regards to the events that took place on the fourth of march. olivia expresses -- bolivia expresses condemnation for the use of chemical weapons. ,hoever commits these crimes

this is a serious threat to international peace and security. we help in the investigation will be carried out in the most logical, complete, comprehensive way through the competent bodies. thank you very much. thank representative of bolivia for his statement and give the floor to the representative of ethiopia. >> we have been following the news about the nerve agent attack in salisbury, u.k.. we express our sympathy and solidarity with the families and the victims. the prime minister -- we appreciate the

european delegation. weaponstion on chemical is well-known. we strongly condemn any use of chemical weapons or any state. weaponshemicals as violations a serious of international law. we help the investigation will into the salisbury incident. bringing those responsible to justice. we believe cooperation between russia and the k -- the u.k. is

, so this issue will not get out of hand. regard, we are hopeful and trust that given the very justified concern of u.k., all concerned will provide full cooperation, so that the matter --l help allay the consents allay the united kingdom. i'm not give the floor to the representative of china. give the floor to the representative of china. there was an incident in the

u.k.. of the statement made. comprehensivehe impartialand investigation can be conducted based on facts, in accordance with international role. -- international rule. the parties can properly handle this issue through appropriate channels. thank you mr. president. >> thank you, mr. president. yesterday, after

the security council had circulated the letter from the british prime minister, the united kingdom requested the closed consultations be held. we wanted to change the format of the meeting to an open briefing. we did this, not without thinking. we did this because we wanted to make sure that everyone should see what is happening here. contained, which completely irresponsible statements, which is difficult for me to comment, while using the somatic vocabulary. it contains threats to a sovereign state, towards a permanent security member council.

i would like to understand the following. do all british colleagues understand this? , why are thestion representatives dragging this to the security council? they ignore the procedures, which are in line with their own international commitment has to abide by. namely, involving the specialized organizations. toxic chemical on british soil. see that the answer to this is obvious. the reason this is being dragged into the security council is because they understand that both expertsons --

will not be convinced by their arguments. they are afraid of having a genuine, professional discussion of this topic. that they are being guided by something completely different. it russian federation thinks is completely unacceptable. to launch unjustified accusations, as contained in the letter from theresa may, dated the 13th of march. it states that we had something to do with the use of toxic agents insult very. we were given an ultimatum and requested -- in salisbury. we were given an ultimatum. not speak the language of

ultimatums. we do not use that language with anyone, and we will not allow to be spoken to in that language either. we are polite. on the 13th of march, we sent a note to the foreign office, where we reaffirmed that we had nothing to do with this incident. we asked for the samples of the substance being used. one of thee so since people impacted was a russian national. this request was refused. in other words, the hysterical atmosphere is being created by london and not being transparent. announcementthe that russian diplomat are being .xpelled i want to ask my u.k. colleague if this applies to the u.n. as well. we asked about a cyber attack

against russia. we would like to warn that this will not remain without reaction on our part. we are compelled to make the following conclusion, that the authorities of the u.k. are interested in finding the truth. they are guided by something else. they are using a propaganda war -- inay and used in recent years. this does not have any facts other than substantiated claim hand inre is a russian all of this. this is not the first time when a russian national in the u.k. or people from russia and the ..k. had their life endangered

instances that were not investigated or we were not allowed to become part of that investigation. they should determine what is happening on their territory before going ahead and accusing others. that is what polite people do. we would suggest to the british involve theiately 9.2 andes in chapter the convention of chemical weapons because it provides for request of explanation and providing others to the requesting state as quickly as possible, no later than 10 days from the request. no hurry of invoking the convention, which they are party to. proof be material

provided of the allegedly found russian trace in this event. without this stating that there is truth is not something that we can take into account. until now, we have not seen anything aside from stating that this is highly likely. the situation -- outould ask them to carry an independent laboratory analysis at the british authorities have. -- that the british authorities have. in the russian federation, no scientific research or titlepment were under the carried out. a whole number of countries implemented programs on creating new types of chemical paralytic

agents in the u.s. and in the soviet union. this is called vx. by decree of the president of the russian federation, the work and chemical weapons were stopped. in 2017, the russian federation completed the destruction of all existing stocks of chemical weapons. the has been verified by international entity. not, toay, the u.s. has date, destroyed their chemical stockpiles. 1990's, thee of the reserve services moved to the west. some documentation was taken out of our country.

they continued their work in this area, including in the u.s. and the u.k. of creating results new chemical agents, for some reason in the west, are classified. it has been reflected in more than 200 open sources. we do have reference to that and we stand ready to provide you with them. the identification of a toxic substance used in the incident was carried out in the scientific center of the ministry of defense. this is the place that was the ofis for the development chemical weapons, including the chemical weapons of this kind. the most probable source of origin for this typical.

other countries have, since the end of the 1990's, been carrying research on these kinds of weapons, including the u.k. here. not chemists let me quote the opinion of a professional chemist. "to be perfectly confident in stating this is not any other kind. what we callhave control standard in order to prove that is the exact compound, it needs to be compared to the standard. isthey state that this gas -- it has a set standard for this substance. they have the connection and the formula. this is the most important point

in this whole story. " , thaty are convinced means they have the samples of this and they have the formula for this. they are capable of manufacturing that. mr. president, we are living in a very special time. eyes, a credible things are happening. replacing the presumption of innocence with a presumption of guilt is taking place. this criminal law principle is being transferred. haley is ansador experienced chemist and expert in that area, talked about the crimes committed by russia. we have known for a very long that in order to determine who is the guilty party, no investigation is needed.

in a letter by the prime minister of the u.k., it is stated that this is highly likely. even in this, you have exceeded your allies. prosecutor saw the confession was the best kind of proof. of theing the expression minister, the best kind of proof is suspicion. no longer necessary to show to the council test tubes with unknown white substance in it. it is a letter which contains an egregious attitude towards a sovereign state. we are witnessing the same when it comes to syria and now russia is being pushed towards the numbers of those violating the convention. about themind you

u.k. involvement in illegal attacks on independent states? yugoslavia, iraq, libya. this led to numerous suffering amongst civilians. do not forget the u.k. is a that uses as a state targeted assassinations by drones. hearing from you effective against us is something that is odd. when there is no proof behind them, it is all the more odd. there is principle. look for those for whose benefit this is being done. what do you think? something -- is

countries a number of who are abiding by the principle of the presumption of innocence. i will not name them. i can think of a number of countries who would benefit from this incident and accusing russia of it. but theld be the motive prime minister is using that russia could have for the attempt? investigation the -- who, after the investigation was pardoned and given over to the british and was no longer any kind of threat to my country. he is a perfect victim. it would justify any unthinkable tarnishing ofd of

russia. we have stated many times that anything along those lines, any provocation before certain events could happen. today, we are witnessing the fact that the authorities of the u.k. are consciously trying to tarnish russia, stooping to any low. classic -- same for his country and very popular in russia has a serious of stories about sherlock holmes and has a character in those stories. inspector lestrade from scotland yard. his role is to be the background for the extraordinary detective powers of sherlock holmes.

lestrade latches onto something on the surface of a crime and been hired to provide a conclusion, only to be overturned by sherlock holmes, who always finds what is behind the crime, what is the motive for it. say thattrying to those who work in scotland yard are not professionals. i do think that we could all stand to benefit from having a sherlock holmes with us today. inspectortive lestrade at the head members of the u.k. government who are coming up with a gracious, andrficial -- egregious superficial accusations, which have far-reaching consequences. give up on the

imperial practices that long to and unsupported accusations, give up the colonial habit and get back to the area which is governed by law. in such a situation, similar to what we have in the letter by theresa may, normally, what should be done is using instruments of legal assistance. again up, let me say once , russia had nothing to do with this incident. london istum from to being that we consider something that we cannot pay attention to. consider knowledge void. null and void.

including the european convention on criminal matters and will provide the samples of substances that the u.k. investigation is referring to for a joint investigation, since you are saying that they are russian in origin. this is not optional. this is a mandatory requirement under the the mechanism for the 9.2 of the convention on chemical weapons is something that we have already mentioned. if the explanations provided are insufficient, well, then, we can turn to the governing body of the opcw. this is the only civilized way of settling the issue. since we are being accused of violating the convention without justification, well, there is no other way out.

and fruitless dialogue with specialists from other -- specialists in this area is something we cannot avoid. we are ready toward open and constructive cooperation within the framework. in conclusion, mr. president, we would like to disseminate a draft statement for the press which sums up my statement. and emphasizes the fact that the mechanisms in chapter nine of the chemical weapons are expected and we hope and that all members of the convention are open to this. thank you. >> i thank the representative from the russian federation for his statement. i shall now make a statement as representative of the kingdom of

the netherlands. the kingdom of the netherlands supports the remarks by the united kingdom who made statements before us today. i would like to underline three points. first, solidarity with the united kingdom, second, concern of the use of chemical weapon, and third, the need for accountability. my first point, solidarity. until the beginning of this month, it was hard to imagine a more peaceful place in the world than salisbury. a quiet historic town among the rolling hills of southern england. then the peace was brutally disturbed. a man and his daughter were poisoned with the use of a nerve agent. united kingdom was shocked. the world was shocked. and the kingdom of the netherlands was shocked. our government has strongly condemned the attack and

expressed solidarity with the united kingdom. people in the netherlands feel for sergey skrippal and all affected. we fully understand the outrage of the u.k. authorities. we understand why this new incident is particularly painful for the p people of the united kingdom who still have vivid memories of the brutal memory with the use of radio active polonium in the heart of london. now the united kingdom finds it -- find itself confronted with a new case. full details are yet to be determined but one thing is beyond doubt already, no state can or should accept attacks taking place on the sovereign territory. the united kingdom can count on the full solidarity of the kingdom of the netherlands.

my second point is use of a chemical weapon. we express great concern of the type used in this attack, military grade nerve agent. sunstance that no regular criminal can easily get his hand on. first time since the end of the second world war a nerve agent has been used in europe. recklessness of this act is beyond words. this nerve agent used in public space with many unsuspecting civilians around. it could have had more horrible effects than indicateed. -- fx than has been the case. i would also like to reiterate that any use of chemical weapons. this is a threat to international peace and security. therefore it should be a matter of concern for this council. we commend the united kingdom for bringing it to our attention. after the recent chemical weapon attacks in syria, another -- the attack in the u.k. is

another warning to the world that we must step up our vigilance to prevent the use of these weapons of mass destruction. we underline the important role of the opcw in the hague in this regard. this brings me to the third and final point, accountability. there can be no impunity for this crime. the government stated that a kingdom of the netherlands fully supports the uk in the quest for the truth. we call on all countries to do so as well. uk urged questions answered. we can understand why, after russia's failure to do so, theresa may stated other measures today. we see no reason for russia to continue to refuse the uk's request, nor any reason why anyone should try to delay, side track, second-guess or discredit

the investigation carried out by the uk authorities. the international community cannot shrug its shoulders on this crime as if nothing happened. the united nations, this council, and all members should cooperate with the united kingdom as it further investigates this gruesome act. the perpetrators should be brought to justice. the representative of the united kingdom asked for the floor to make a further statement. you have the floor. thank you, mr. president. my russian colleague asked some questions and i thought i would answer. he asked why did we come to the united nations security council. isn't the security council where countries come when there has been threat to international

peace and security? when there's been an unlawful attack on them? he asked if we work with russia here. of course we will work with russia here. we believe in the united nations and its security council. we believe in the international rules based system. we want this council to work together to uphold international peace and security and resolve conflict together. of course we will work with russia to achieve those aims here in this council. i set out in detail on how the -- how the convention on chemical weapons works in article 9. you have heard from the russian colleague. i won't go into it in great detail again. i will simply say under article 9 we asked russia for an explanation. russia's response was to say they considered our request to be null and void. we have also asked the opcw to

support us with an independent verification of our analysis. the russian colleague talked about samples but again, this is a misunderstanding of the convention. there are no provisions in the convention which require the uk to share samples collected as part of the criminal investigation. the chemical weapons convention does provide inspected state parties with a right to have duplicate copies of samples taken for the purposes of inspection. but russia is not an inspected state party in this case. we are asked why we were so keen to ask for a quick answer. that comes from our past experience. one of the key tactics in the russia play book is to delay, delay, delay.

distract, to mire in procedural delay. know that of course from the tragic case in 2006. we waited for months in the hope that rush why would cooperate with our requests. to extra date and investigate known suspects. -- to extradite and investigate known suspects. we waited in vein. -- we waited in vain. we will not make the same mistake again. and finally, my russian colleague quotes fiction. let me quote the russian president when we think about who benefits. in 2010 he said, quote, traitors will kick the bucket, believe me. those other folks betrayed their friend, their brothers in arms. whatever they got in exchange for it, those 30 pieces of silver they were given, they will choke on them. thank you, mr. president. >> i thank the representative of united kingdom for his statement and representative of russian federation has the floor to make a further statement. >> thank you, mr. president.

i have already said everything i want to say about your statement. i wanted to underscore one thing. that we didn't have a proper request in line with the convention on chemical weapons for which we were ready to which we are ready. what we were given was a 24 hour ultimatum. let me underscore, this is the format in which we will not respond to unsubstantiated allegations. which were launched against us before any kind of answer received from us. but we are ready to cooperate with the british government in order to investigate this unfortunate incident. i do not think that anything i said earlier is in contradiction with this statement right now. thank you. >> i think the representative

of the russian federation for his statement. there are no other names described to be speakers. the meeting is adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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