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Russia has warned Britain it is "playing with fire and you'll be sorry" over its accusations that Moscow was to blame for poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter.
Key points:
- Russia claims Britain is required to allow Moscow to participate in the investigation of the attack
- Britain says its stance will stand up to scrutiny
- Russian ambassador uses a passage from Alice in Wonderland as an analogy for how Moscow has been treated
It was the second showdown between Russia and Britain at the United Nations Security Council since the March 4 nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in an English town.
Russia, which requested the council meeting, denies any involvement.
Ms Skripal has since made her first public comment since the attack, while her father remains in a critical condition.
The attack has had major diplomatic ramifications, with mass expulsions of Russian and Western diplomats. The 15-member Security Council first met over the issue on March 14, at Britain's request.
"We have told our British colleagues that, 'You're playing with fire and you'll be sorry'," Russian UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said during a more than 30-minute speech that attempted to poke holes in Britain's allegations against Moscow.
He suggested that anyone who watched television crime shows like Britain's Midsomer Murders would know "hundreds of clever ways to kill someone" to illustrate the "risky and dangerous" nature of the method Britain says was used to target Skripal.
"Great Britain refuses to cooperate with us on the pretext that the victim does not cooperate with the criminal," Mr Nebenzia said.
"A crime was committed on British territory, possibly a terrorist act, and it is our citizens who are the victims."
He challenged Britain to take his statement as "a litmus test" of the country's integrity and respect for international norms and said Britain was required to allow Russia to participate in the investigation of the attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.
British police believe a nerve agent was left on the front door of the Salisbury home where Mr Skripal lived after he was freed in a spy swap.
He was a military intelligence colonel who betrayed dozens of Russian agents to Britain's MI6 spy service.
"We believe that the UK's actions stand up to any scrutiny," British UN ambassador Karen Pierce told the Security Council.
"We have nothing to hide … but I do fear that Russia might have something to fear."
Prior to the meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the expulsions of over 150 Russian diplomats by two dozen Western nations threatened global stability. Moscow expelled the same number of Western diplomats.
Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelley Currie told the meeting: "We have stated previously and do so again today our firm belief that Russia is responsible for this chemical weapons attack on UK soil.
Alice in Wonderland used in war of words
At the global chemical weapons watchdog on Wednesday, Russia called for a joint inquiry into the poisoning of the Skripals, but lost a vote on the measure.
"Allowing Russian scientists into an investigation where they are the most likely perpetrators of the crime in Salisbury would be like Scotland Yard inviting in Professor Moriarty," Ms Pierce told reporters earlier on Thursday, citing a character from Sherlock Holmes.
At the end of the council meeting, Mr Nebenzia read a passage from Alice in Wonderland about a trial where the Queen demands the sentence first and the verdict afterward.
"Does that remind you of anything?" he added.
Ms Pierce responded: "There is another very good quote from Alice in Wonderland which is: 'Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast', so I think that's the quote [that] suits my Russian colleague best."
AP/Reuters
Topics: world-politics, foreign-affairs, defence-and-national-security, government-and-politics, russian-federation, united-kingdom, united-states
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