"A Massive International Provocation" - Zakharova Explains the Truth Behind the Scandal

- Maria Zakharova, the official representative to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is in our studio today. She will talk about poison, and about London, which has become a deadly place, apparently.

Maria Zakharova, the official representative to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: I won't tell you about London and poison, I'll tell you about a poisonous London.

- OK.

 

- Because nobody knows anything about any poison. Let's be honest and objective. Theresa May has nothing—absolutely no proof. I don't know who briefs her.

- It's a nerve agent, apparently.

- This is what we hear on TV from the media. They constantly accuse us of peddling Russian propaganda, etc. Well, this is a classic example of the British propaganda machine. It's a well-oiled machine at that, operating at maximum capacity. So, nobody knows anything about any poison. They have all the tools to share information about this or to request it from Russia, which they need to do since they're blaming us. They're not doing any of that. What they are doing is making claims and statements. They're using various diplomatic resources such as summoning the ambassador, just to personally insult Russian representatives, by the way. This is their entire arsenal. I want to tell you that not one legal mechanism, legal mechanism of international law, that is, — has been used by the UK in this case.

- For instance?

- There is a clear plan. When it is suspected that a chemical agent was used, whether it's poison or not, just some chemical agent, if a chemical agent was used in an attack, and its origin is connected to a specific country, the country where it all took place, and this is standard procedure — must send a bilateral inquiry to the country that's allegedly connected to this substance. It's all about science right now, it's 2018. Science and special services work together when it's necessary to do so. Even more, the Convention and the guidelines set out by the OPCW have specific terms during which this inquiry must be processed. It's about 10 days. If no mutual inquiry on both channels is made, the guidelines set out by the OPCW take effect. But, it's only done when no proper answer is received from a respective side.

London hasn't done any of this. They've summoned the ambassador, Boris Johnson got hysterical, and I mean hysterical, and Theresa May made a speech without having any facts or proof, just hints, insinuating that, it could've been, might've been Russia. Then, in compliance with legal norms, Russia sent a note to the UK. They asked to be presented with any information on this case, assuming there was any. We asked them to provide us all the materials they may have on this case. There's still no answer.

- So, did you argue with the ambassador today?

- Right, the UK ambassador. Again, he wasn't summoned here to be publicly slapped on the wrist, he was presented with the same questions that we asked in the note. Obviously, we told him that the UK Parliament's recent statement was unacceptable. What transpired yesterday was a complete circus. We're talking about the Prime Minister here. Such statements are being made by a Prime Minister who is a member of a nuclear country that is a permanent member of the UNSC.

- What else did we say to Yakovenko? What did Boris Johnson say?

- The word "say" isn't really appropriate here, they using some "different" methods to communicate.

- Very interesting. So, they'll get on the phone, I mean Theresa May and the US President Donald Trump, who wasn't elected by the Russians, unfortunately. And tomorrow she'll slap us with new sanctions, Oh no, more sanctions, so scary. Does it matter whether it's their propaganda machine or not? I mean, the sanctions are pretty real.

- You're still afraid of the President's statement.

- Is that how it is now? I thought…

- We were scared there somewhere. You know, by the way, I don't know all that much about weapons and arms. I mean, I am, by nature, a negotiator. My job involves forming a dialogue and looking for a compromise. Thus, when I was watching the President, I was looking for something that can help me do my job, and I found it. I've said that before. Obviously, the part about the new defensive weapons has affected me, I couldn't ignore it due to my job. Is it clear to everyone why we need the weapons? Now, after this show at the UK Parliament, everyone must understand that after what the President has talked about, not one person in the Parliament can just say, "I give Russia 24 hours." I mean, what's that about?

- But she did say it.

- I'll say it again; we're talking about London, the capital of a nuclear nation. Who did they give 24 hours to? What did they give 24 hours for? I understand that when people who have nothing to do with foreign affairs become the heads of the country's foreign affairs, who built their entire careers on populism…

- But, they know how to ride their bikes.

- They know nothing about the OPCW, or the related Convention, or the entire mechanism. They find it normal to go out there and start scaring people. Don't do that, don't scare anyone.

- As we know, we have a specific mechanism in place for working with the US. We have Intel on them; agents communicate through their channels, etc. But, in this case they didn't even ask us whether the gas was ours.

- Look, there are terrorist attacks in Syria, so the sides, Moscow and the US; they're chefs in the same kitchen, terrorism is a mutual problem, it's everywhere. So, they're attempting to bring back that level of trust that we used to have in our dialogues. You must remember how Russian intelligence agencies warned their American colleagues a few years back. Unfortunately, they didn't take that information seriously. Let's look at some recent attempts. Our US partners gave us, the Russians, information. The President has mentioned this. That data was properly processed, and a terrorist attack was prevented. These attempts immediately get criticized in Washington. Why? What for? Regular people, who have nothing to do with politics, who go shopping, go to school, go to theaters, they were saved, which is good. This is the same goodness that Mayakovsky told children about. And, these things get attacked hastily.

- They haven't read Mayakovsky.

- We often say everyone is against us. Zhenya, they haven't read anything, not just Mayakovsky. These Conventions I keep mentioning. They haven't read them. They have no idea what they're talking about, you can see it for yourselves. Her purse in hand, she starts yapping without having a clue what she's talking about. I asked a question yesterday. How do they inform the Prime Minister of a nuclear nation regarding such serious issues? They didn't say. They hold briefings. What briefings? Tony Blair already apologized after one of those.

- He did that.

- Who did he apologize to? This is a very important question. For now, these people, represented by May, have only apologized to themselves, because it's all about the taxpayers' money and the lives of the British citizens. They are yet to apologize to even a single country where their soldiers stepped foot, where civilians died, where normal lives turned to ruins because of their plots and schemes. They apologize to no one, they just keep going. Where are the cases of Litvinenko, Berezovsky, and Perepilichny? Nobody knows anything; everything is covered in this damn fog of secrecy.

- This is 60 Minutes, we're going on a short break, then we'll cover Boris Johnson's hysteria. What did he say? Something about a new anti-Russian coalition. There was an old one, I guess he wants a new one. Boris himself won't come to Russia for the World Cup, and neither will Rex Tillerson. Tillerson was fired.

- They're trying to scare us with sanctions. As Russia Today has said…

- We'll ask how Pompeo is after the break.

- They were the first, as always.

- If you don't know now, you will after the break. This is 60 minutes.

- In our studio, we have Maria Zakharova, the Director of Information and Press Department. We'll now continue discussing the horrible event that took place in London. Something will probably happen in Russia, but what?

- It's obvious. It's a grand international provocation.

- Soccer and Russia Today.

- Let's call it what it is, don't call it an incident. It's a grand international provocation. People's lives are involved, but nobody talks about it, we don't know anything. One of them is a Russian citizen.

- New Scotland Yard said she's in the hospital, and she's stable.

- How can we believe the people who have already apologized for hundreds of millions of ruined lives? We've covered that a few minutes ago. It was a casual apology, like they didn't care. What are these people saying? I'll say it again, not one story of the same nature has resulted in any sort of truth, or in an answer to any of the questions that are being asked by everyone, by the investigators, society, and Russia. There are no answers about the cases of Litvinenko, Berezovsky, or Perepilichny. Everything is classified. First, they launch an insane propaganda campaign, then they seal the data. Then, the courts make a decision, but nobody knows what they are, because all those things are classified. Why are they so classified that we can't even discuss them? Shocking.

- Still, Boris won't come to the World Cup, we have no idea what awaits Russia Today. We know that our journalists have already received threats.

- I want to say that sports is a very peculiar topic. The past few years side, sports have always been complicated. They say it has only been like this lately, but international politics have always been a part of sports, unfortunately. Of course, what's happening now is beyond the pale. The first thing London said about what happened in its capital, what Boris Johnson said, "We can't go to Russia for the World Cup." This was the first thing they said, no official inquiries, no desire to find the truth, just soccer. That was the first day. Before there was an issue with soccer, there was Syria, Ukraine, not to mention the doping scandal, human rights issues, and so on. But, the soccer topic keeps resurfacing, it has become a sore subject for people. And, it's not about a specific approach. They could've mustered the courage to say that they don't like Russia, so they won't go there for the World Cup. But, no.

- If they shut down Russia Today, BBC will be next.

- Experts and people close to London officials, and the London officials themselves have revealed the list of possible countermeasures. Each one of our relevant agencies will decide how to respond if those measures are taken. I can speak for the journalists. I can tell you right away that no British media will work in our country if they shut down Russia Today. That's how it is.

- Thank you. Maria Zakharova, the official MFA rep.