Moscow Blames London For Delayed Consular Access To Arrested Spy Whelan

The delayed response by the Russian authorities to a UK request to grant consular access to Paul Whelan, who had been arrested in Russia on espionage charges was caused by the fact that the British side did not use the bilateral consular convention, the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2019) The delayed response by the Russian authorities to a UK request to grant consular access to Paul Whelan, who had been arrested in Russia on espionage charges was caused by the fact that the British side did not use the bilateral consular convention, the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Wednesday.

Whelan, 48, who also has Irish, Canadian and US citizenship, was detained in Moscow in December last year. He denies the charges and insists he came to Russia only to attend a friend's wedding. A Moscow court will consider the appeal against Whelan's arrest on January 22.

"The British side did not use the bilateral consular convention, which has been in force between our countries since 1965. This slowed down the process of granting consular access to the UK national," the press service said, commenting on a statement by the UK Embassy in Moscow about a request for access to Whelan.

"Perhaps, the bilateral document was ignored by the British side intentionally, in order to legally impede the access of Russian consular officers to the Skripals," the press service stressed.