Russia condemns London’s ‘arrogant’ note — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
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UK sends message to Kremlin about two British nationals sentenced to death in Donbass
Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin has condemned a note sent by London to the Kremlin regarding two British nationals recently sentenced to death by a court in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The « arrogant » message makes Kremlin cooperation unlikely, Kelin added.
Sean Pinner and Aiden Aslin, along with a Moroccan, were sentenced to death by authorities in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) earlier this month. The three men had been captured by the DPR while fighting for Ukraine and were convicted of terrorism offenses and attempting to overthrow the republic’s government.
Russia and the DPR insist the men were fighting as mercenaries and are therefore not legal combatants. Pinner and Aslin claim they were serving members of the Ukrainian military.
Speaking to Rossiya 24 TV channel on Tuesday, Kelin confirmed that British officials had been in contact with the Kremlin over the two British fighters.
“They sent a memo written in extremely arrogant and informative terms. This does not make us want to cooperate on these issues,” Kelin said.
Great Britain does not recognize the independence of the DPR, hence the sending of the note to Moscow. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called the sentencing of Pinner and Aslin a « fictitious judgment without any legitimacy » and in its official response to the condemnation, the DPR authorities were described as « Russian Proxies in Eastern Ukraine. »
Moscow has already told London to communicate directly with the DPR, instead of « trying to solve problems with loud statements », according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Together with the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), the DPR declared independence from Ukraine in 2014. Russia recognized the independence of the two republics in February, days before the launch of its military operation in Ukraine, which the Kremlin said was needed to end kyiv. eight-year legal, cultural and military persecution of the two breakaway states.
Under DPR law, Aslin and Pinner can appeal their death sentences or plead for clemency. If they fail in either attempt, they will be executed by firing squad.
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