Russia demands access to all facts linked to the investigation.
The MOSCOW,
March 13. /TASS/. Russia has nothing to do with the poisoning of former GRU
Colonel Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"We’ve
made a statement to dismiss this as nonsense. We have nothing to do with
this," he said.
The substance
Russia has
not received any request from the United Kingdom on a substance that was
allegedly used in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergey Skripal and his
daughter Yulia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters.
Under the
Chemical Weapons Convention, the UK had to immediately contact the country
suspected of using the substance, he said.
"Meanwhile,
the requested party has a full right to get access to the substance in question
to have a chance to carry out its own analysis into this substance,"
Lavrov said.
"As soon as rumors emerged, which were spread by almost all representatives of the British leadership, that a substance made in Russia had been used in Skripal’s poisoning, we immediately sent an official note asking for the access to that substance so that our experts could analyze it," he said.
In this
note, Russia demanded access to all the facts linked to the investigation,
given that one of the victims is Yulia Skripal, is a Russian citizen.
"Despite
these absolutely lawful demands, we received an inarticulate answer meaning
that our request has been rejected," Lavrov noted, calling on London to
meet its commitments before issuing ultimatums.
On Monday,
UK Prime Minister Theresa May accused Russia of being involved in Skripal’s
poisoning calling it a "reckless, indiscriminate and irresponsible"
act against the United Kingdom. She claimed that the nerve gas had been
developed in Russia. Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko was
summoned to the Foreign Office over the case.
The Skripal case
Former
Russian military intelligence (GRU) Colonel Sergey Skripal, 66, and his
33-year-old daughter Yulia on March 4 suffered from the effects of a nerve
agent. They were found unconscious on a shopping mall bench in Salisbury. Both
are now in hospital in critical condition.
In 2004,
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested Skripal and later on, he was
sentenced to 13 years in prison for high treason. Six years later, the former
colonel was handed over to the US as part of a swap deal involving espionage
suspects. Later that same year, Skripal settled down in Britain.
Russian
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dubbed May’s comments in the
British parliament as a ‘circus show,’ noting that London has launched a
political media campaign based on provocation.
Source: ITAR-TASS 13-03-2018
