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Moscow says stands for developing relations with London along all lines

SALEKHARD, December 10. /TASS/. Russia is interested in advancing the entire range of relations with Britain, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on the sidelines of the international circumpolar mass media congress Arctic Media World in Salekhard on Monday.

"Regrettably, we’ve encountered an information blockade by the British mass media. That Russia blocks relations with Britain is an absolute lie," she said. "In reality Russia is for developing relations with that country along all lines."

"It is an entirely different matter that we are not prepared to talk to people who indulge in disinformation. Nor are we ready to accept one-way relations. We wish to cultivate ties with Britain on an equitable footing. This benefits both countries," Zakharova said.

She said many representatives of major British mass media thought that Russia was blocking bilateral relations.

"I always ask them to give me at least one example. They never can. Our relations are blocked along all lines on the British side, although before we had dialogues at all levels," she said.

Relations between the two countries aggravated after the March 4 incident in Salisbury, near London - the poisoning of a former GRU colonel, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. If the British version of the affair is to be believed, both were affected by a Novichok class nerve agent. London argued that Moscow was highly likely involved in the incident.

Without presenting any proof London expelled 23 Russian diplomats and introduced a number of other anti-Russian measures. Moscow retaliated by expelling as many British embassy staffers, closing down the British consulate-general in St. Petersburg and terminating the activity of the British Council in Russia.