If there were any doubts about how strong the United Kingdom’s reaction would be to the Kremlin’s outrageous chemical weapons attack on British soil, they were put to rest by United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May’s statement in parliament on March 14.
The response was, as many had expected it would be, flaccid and underwhelming. Faced with what it itself described as an act of force against the British state by the Kremlin, the U.K. government came up with a pathetic list of slap-on-the-wrist sanctions that Moscow will shrug off with a smirk. Worse, May’s action will be met with an opposite but probably unequal reaction from the Kremlin.
May couldn’t even come up with a boycott of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s upcoming prestige event, the 2018 World Cup. Royalty and other top officials will not attend the tournament. “Big deal,” Moscow will say.
Twenty-three Russian diplomat/spies will be sent home: So will 23 or more British diplomats in Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be de-invited to visit Britain – My goodness! How will he recover from such a blow?
High-level bilateral contacts between the U.K. and Russia will be suspended – that only means the ludicrous UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, will have fewer opportunities to make a fool of himself overseas.
Despite all the tough talk earlier in the week about the U.K. not tolerating the outrageous and unlawful behavior of Putin’s regime, May showed that when push comes to shove, the U.K. is quite prepared to be shoved.
It could have been so different: Britain had the opportunity to finally hit the Vladimir Putin regime where it would really hurt – in its pockets. Thousands of luxury properties, bought by Russian oligarchs with money looted from the Russian state, lie empty in London – they should have been seized. The bank accounts of oligarchs and corrupt Russian officials, assets, cars, yachts, aircraft – all bought with funds of dubious origin – should be fair game for the bailiffs. Named individuals should have been banned from the country, companies sanctioned, and money-laundering schemes broken up.
The only announcement made by May that might give Moscow some concern was that the U.K. would hand over its evidence regarding the use of the novichok nerve agent by Russia in Britain to the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, for it to conduct an independent investigation.
What signal will the Kremlin receive from the U.K.’s pathetic response to its murderous activities?
The U.K. values participation in a soccer tournament over the lives of its citizens;
Tough talk by a U.K. leader will not be followed by tough actions;
Your money, stolen from the Russian people, is safe in Britain.
Those are dangerous signals to send to a brutal regime like Putin’s. They are signals of weakness. They will invite more bullying.
Putin will be emboldened now – his thesis that the West is weak, and that it values money more than its own principles, is proving to be correct.
As a result, more Russians, and probably innocent Britons, will die on UK streets at the hands of the Kremlin.
And the government of Prime Minister Theresa May will share some of the blame.
