MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. Russia reaffirms is interest in working together with the UK on the case of the poisoning of former Russian military intelligence Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
"We reiterate our interest in obtaining information from London to begin work on this issue," she said.
"It’s impossible to knock at the door, which has not just been closed, but also barricaded from the other side."
"It is up to Britain to remedy the situation now. It has our requests to provide the available information. However, London is reluctant to provide the relevant information," Zakharova noted.
Salisbury incident
On March 4, former Russian military intelligence Colonel Sergei Skripal, who had been convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and was later swapped for Russian intelligence officers, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench near the Maltings shopping center in Salisbury, UK. Police said they had allegedly been exposed to a nerve agent. Both are in the hospital in critical condition.
London immediately accused Russia of being involved, but failed to produce any evidence. UK Prime Minister Theresa May rushed to blame Russia for "unlawful use of force" against her country. She identified the alleged substance used in the attack as the so-called Novichok nerve agent, allegedly developed in the former Soviet Union. Subsequently, the UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats and announced other restrictive measures against Moscow. Russia has flatly rejected these allegations pointing out that neither the Soviet Union nor Russia had any programs to develop that substance.
Some European countries, including France, Germany and Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, Moldova, along with the US, Canada and Australia, decided to expel more than 100 Russian diplomats over the Skripal episode. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that this unfriendly move would not go unanswered.