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Russian ambassador compares Skripal case to chess game

According to the ambassador, Moscow has not received the answers it needs
Investigators in protective suits work at the scene near the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found Andrew Matthews/PA via AP
Investigators in protective suits work at the scene near the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found
© Andrew Matthews/PA via AP

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. Interaction between Moscow and London on the poisoning of ex-intelligence officer Sergei Skripal is like a game of chess, Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko told the Rossiya 24 TV channel on Friday.

"It is a big game of chess that we will play," he said. "All this information campaign will fizzle out sooner or later because there is nothing to fuel it - there is not a single fact and no information is being revealed," the ambassador added.

Yakovenko stressed that Russia had serious problems with the United Kingdom concerning interaction in the investigation into the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter. According to the ambassador, Moscow has not received the answers it needs.

"The problem is that no one has seen any photos of Yulia Skripal and her father, no one knows in what condition they currently are and no one knows about any progress in the investigation. We just don’t seem to be getting answers to all these questions. The British have been avoiding this topic. It is a violation of international law, particularly the Vienna Convention, but unfortunately, the British often indulge in adopting such a colonial manner," he said.

According to Yakovenko, the United Kingdom is also unwilling to cooperate with Russia in connection with other requests that Moscow made, which particularly concern the identification of the poisonous substance.

"According to their classification, it is an A-234 nerve agent, it is the British classification," the ambassador noted.

Skripal case

On March 4, former Russian military intelligence (GRU) Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia suffered the effects of an unknown nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury. They are currently in the hospital in critical condition.

Skripal was earlier convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and exchanged for Russian intelligence officers.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the substance used in the attack had been a Novichok-class nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union. On March 14, she accused Russia of an "unlawful use of force" against the United Kingdom and announced that London would expel 23 Russian diplomats and take other restrictive measures.

Russia has rejected all accusations and vowed to respond to the UK’s steps.