Britain urges US, Europe to 'go further' in countering Russia

Britain's new Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt today urged the United States and European countries to do more to call out Russia's "malign behaviour" and keep Vladimir Putin in check, notably by implementing tough sanctions.

"The established rules of international conduct are repeatedly being flouted by major countries like Russia," Hunt said in Washington, in his first major policy speech since succeeding Boris Johnson in July.

London has blamed Moscow for the March poisoning in southwestern England of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia -- using a Soviet-made nerve agent -- plunging the two countries into a diplomatic crisis.

"Such aggressive and malign behavior undermines the international order that keeps us safe," Hunt told an audience at the US Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan think tank.

He added that, while engagement with Moscow remains vital, Russia's foreign policy under Putin has made the world "a more dangerous place."
"That means calling out and responding to transgressions with one voice whenever and wherever they occur, from the streets of Salisbury to the fate of Crimea."