MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters at a news conference following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Thursday that the parties had failed to reach an understanding on the Skripal case.
"We also talked about the Skripal case," he said. "From our point of view, Russia has shown little willingness to take part in the constructive investigation of these acts. We reached no understanding here. We have different assessments, and we exchanged them."
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According to Maas, Russia’s stance could discredit the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). "We would certainly like Russia to have a more constructive stance when it comes to the evaluation of the OPCW’s work," he said. "We do not think this organization should be discredited in any way."
On March 4, former Russian military intelligence Colonel Sergei Skripal, 66, who had been convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and was later swapped for Russian intelligence officers, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench near the Maltings shopping center in Salisbury, the UK. Police said they had been exposed to a nerve agent.
London immediately accused Russia of being involved, but failed to produce any evidence. Russia has flatly rejected these allegations. The UK currently ignores any interaction with Russia concerning the investigation into this incident denying consular access to the Russian nationals.