The world could face a “Cold War situation” again if the West remains biased against Moscow in its response to the nerve agent attack on a former spy in the United Kingdom earlier this month, Russia’s ambassador to Australia warned on Wednesday.
Grigory Logvinov said the two Russian diplomats Australia expelled on Tuesday were registered, The Australian reported. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had called them “undeclared intelligence officers”, similar to the United States’ claim when it expelled 60 Russian diplomats on Monday.
Logvinov said Australia was blindly following the UK’s advice without evidence. “The British stubbornly denied to give any evidence,” the ambassador said. “Either they don’t have evidence or the evidence they have would prove it absolutely the opposite.”
Nearly two dozen countries have expelled at least 140 Russian diplomats in the last few days, including over 100 on Monday alone. This is believed to be the largest collective expulsion of Russian diplomats in history.
Russia has repeatedly denied any role in the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in southern England’s Salisbury on March 4. The father and daughter are still reportedly in hospital.
“The West must understand that the anti-Russia campaign has no future,” he said, according to Reuters. “If it continues, we will be deeply in a Cold War situation.”
Meanwhile, the German government’s Russia coordinator also said Berlin must “do everything possible to avoid a new Cold War”, Reuters reported. Gernot Erler said that although Germany had joined the West in expelling Russian diplomats, it must also continue a dialogue with Moscow.
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