Alwaght- Russia has castigated UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson’s comparison of the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany as offensive and disgusting.
"It is an utterly disgusting statement. It is unworthy of a foreign minister of any country. It goes without saying that it is insulting and impermissible," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Thursday.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May earlier declared that neither members of Britain’s Cabinet nor the British royal family would visit the World Cup following the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer and British spy, ex-Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, in Salisbury, UK on March 4.
Commenting on the idea that the English team might boycott the World Cup, Johnson told the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, "On balance it would be wrong to punish the team who have worked on this for a long time incredibly hard, given up their lives to it, I think it would be a pity for them," the UK top diplomat said.
Johnson agreed that the forthcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia would be allegedly akin to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.
Russia will host the FIFA World Cup finals on June 14 July 15 in 11 cities. England is in group G together with Belgium, Panama and Tunisia.
Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent on March 4 and found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, UK. Both of them have been hospitalized and are in critical condition.
British authorities blamed Russia for the poisoning, but failed to provide any evidence to support their accusations. Russia refuted all of London’s allegations. With that, UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of high-level bilateral contacts. On Saturday, in response to London’s moves, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared 23 British diplomats persona-non-grata and would expel them within a week, close the British consulate general in St. Petersburg, and terminate the British Council’s activities in Russia.
