Theresa May was in Salisbury today to observe the area of the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal

The West united against Vladimir Putin’s regime today as the UK, US, France and Germany issued a joint statement condemning Russia over the Salisbury attack.

The four allies said it was “an assault on UK sovereignty” and a breach of international law that “threatens the security of us all”. The unequivocal statement came after days of prevarication and varying levels of support from Washington, Berlin and Paris.

President Trump said that “it certainly looks like the Russians were behind it”. Asked if Vladimir Putin was responsible for the attack, Mr Trump said: “It looks like it.” He added: “Something that should never, ever happen, and we’re taking it very seriously, as I think are many others.”

Separately, the US announced new sanctions today on Russian