United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said she believed Russia was responsible for an alleged nerve agent attack on two people in Salisbury, England. Haley said that something must be done to prevent it from happening in other places, Newsweek reported.
“If we don’t take immediate concrete measures to address this now, Salisbury will not be the last place we see chemical weapons used,” Haley said at an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday. “They could be used here in New York or in cities of any country that sits on this council.”
Haley said that the U.S. stands in lockstep with its ally, the United Kingdom, who blamed Russia for the attack.
“Russia must fully cooperate with the UK’s investigation and come clean about its own chemical weapons program,” she said. Haley added that the UN must hold Russia to account.
“This is a defining moment. Time and time again, member states say they oppose the use of chemical weapons under any circumstance,” she said. “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.”
Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy and double agent for the UK, and his daughter were found unresponsive on a park bench in England last week.
British Prime Minister Theresa May told Parliament that the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok was used in what appears to be an attempted assassination. The UK moved to banish 23 Russian diplomats Wednesday in retaliation for the attack.
“There is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of Mr. Skripal and his daughter, and for threatening the lives of other British citizens in Salisbury,” May said.
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