As I say in The Sun this morning, one of the things about the Salisbury attack that has disconcerted the UK government is how–relatively obvious–the Russians have made it, that it was them. They clearly wanted to send a message.
In Whitehall, the thinking is that there were three things that Moscow was trying to achieve with the poisoning of Sergei Skripal. First, to show Russia’s enemies that they are never safe. If they can hit a former spy for Britain who was keeping a low profile in a small English City then they can get to anyone.
Second, they think that the Russians were trying to test Britain. This country is now the major Western power that is most consistently arguing for a robust approach to Vladimir Putin. This attack has enabled them to see how prepared for confrontation the UK is and where it stands diplomatically.
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