The British government continues to double down on allegations of a Russian chemical weapons attack using a “nerve agent” against targets in Salisbury. This continues despite mounting doubts about the narrative, including a lack of symptoms from any of the other nominally “exposed” people.
Russia, which has repeatedly expressed annoyance at the accusations, is getting even more direct about the matter. They are now insisting Britain must either offer real proof for the claims, or a public apology for blaming them.
Britain is unlikely to do either, with signs that they simply don’t have proof, and too many top officials committed to ever admit they were wrong. Since evidence (or indeed truth) were only ever secondary concerns, being wrong is not likely to be a serious impediment.
This is especially true because both the European Union and NATO have issued statements expressing “solidarity” with the British over the allegations. Even if they are wrong, British officials may take comfort in being in good company in their wrongness, and given the amount of acrimony between Britain and Russia, that may be all that matters to the government.