Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said that it is still important to do business with Vladimir Putin, despite “all fingers” pointing to Russia in the Salisbury spy attack.
Speaking to Radio 4’s World at One, Corbyn said that on UK’s values, he would still “do business” with Putin and that the government should wait for evidence before imposing further measures.
“What I’m saying is the weapons were made from Russia, clearly,” he said. “I think Russia has to be held responsible for it but there has to be an absolutely definitive answer to the question, where did the nerve agent come from?”
“All fingers point towards Russia’s involvement in this, and obviously the manufacture of the material was undertaken by the Russian state originally.”
Corbyn has faced criticism for not categorically blaming Russia for the attack.
Shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said he agreed with Theresa May.
“Whichever way you look at it”, Vladimir Putin “is responsible and all the evidence points to him,” he said on Sunday.
Corbyn told Radio 4 that “I think John put the case there that it’s highly likely that there’s Russian involvement in it.”
“Would I do business with Putin, sure? And I’d challenge him on human rights in Russia, challenge him on these issues and challenge him on that whole basis of that relationship.
“You have to deal with people who are in the position they are as head of state,” Corbyn added.
“Russia is a huge country that suffered more than anyone else in the Second World War and we have to recognise that there has to be a relationship with Russia. Robust, yes, assertive, yes, demanding yes, but there has to be a relationship.”
In a much less subtle approach, Boris Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph that Putin was categorically behind the attack.
“The message is clear: we will hunt you down, we will find you and we will kill you – and though we will scornfully deny our guilt, the world will know that Russia did it,” he wrote.