LONDON, December 5. /TASS/. Britain’s publication of a report on Russia's alleged involvement in the 2018 Salisbury poisoning is intended to create a negative background and prerequisites for disrupting Russian-American work to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, Russian ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin said.

The report released on December 4 following a public investigation indicated that Brit Dawn Sturges, who died in July 2018 after coming into contact with a toxic substance in the city of Amesbury, was an accidental victim of the incident in Salisbury, where, according to the British authorities, an attempt was made on the life of ex-GRU Colonel Sergey Skripal. He was convicted in Russia of spying for Britain. Skripal was later exchanged, and lived in England. The report places the "moral responsibility" for the poisoning of Sturgess on Russia, and in the case of the poisoning of Skripal, Moscow is directly blamed.

"We should think about why a new anti-Russian information campaign around the Skripal case has been launched right now. The publication of the report's results is just an excuse. The point is to create a background, prerequisites for disrupting the work of Russia and the United States on a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine," the Russian ambassador said in a statement.

"According to today's publication in The Times, the British authorities want to go even further and use this story as an information cover to steal our sovereign assets. The fact that such unscrupulous schemes are actually being implemented ‘on the bones’ of their own citizen Dawn Sturges, who tragically died, is disgusting.

"There is nothing new and unexpected in the charges brought against Russia. In London, they simply dusted off the versions of the events in Salisbury and Amesbury that were announced here earlier, framed them as the result of a so-called public investigation and presented them to the public. The provocation with the Skripals is the work of the British special services, which are known for their sophisticated operations around the world."

Who benefits from the poisoning

Kelin suggested to see who this story played into the hands of.

"It certainly could not be beneficial to Russia on the eve of the first World Cup in the country's history, as well as the presidential elections. But the British government, which was then faced with the painful consequences of Brexit and the political crisis, benefited from such a scandal. The goal was to divert British attention from the crisis through anti-Russian hysteria. At the same time, the then Prime Minister Theresa May used this incident to strengthen her authority in Europe as a leader opposed to Russia," the diplomat said.

"If you look at the British version of events in Salisbury from the point of view of common sense, it becomes clear that it has nothing to do with reality. This is a story invented in the style of detective novels by Agatha Christie and Ian Fleming," Kelin noted, adding that the accusations "immediately crumble when it comes to a critical analysis of the presented version. The multiple inconsistencies that have been identified during the investigation of Dawn Sturgess' death confirm this. It is clear that if someone really wanted to get rid of Sergey Skripal, the actions would have unfolded differently. I think the professionals in this field were dying of laughter reading all this nonsense," the ambassador said.

"Russia has nothing to do with the poisoning of the Skripals. But we are very interested, and, in my opinion, more than anyone else, in establishing the truth, to find out the truth about the fate of our people. Our numerous questions remain unanswered. Obviously, London simply does not need an honest conversation on this topic. Otherwise, as we suggested back then, it would have been possible to establish professional cooperation between the relevant departments of our countries on this issue.".