Putin slams ‘ungrounded accusations’ after UK poisonings

Russian President Vladimir Putin (AFP)

Washington, United States – President Vladimir Putin accused Britain on Monday of making baseless allegations against Russia after a former Soviet spy was among four people found poisoned by a nerve agent in southern England.

Asked in a Fox News interview about the British government’s assertion that Moscow was behind the Novichok attack on the former spy Sergei Skripal, Putin said London had not provided any evidence to back up their claim.

“We would like to get documentary evidence but nobody gives it to us,” Putin, speaking through a translator, told the US network after a summit with President Donald Trump in Finland.

“It’s the same thing with the accusations of meddling in the election process in America,” he added in reference to claims that Russia interfered in the 2016 United States presidential election, which was won by Trump.

Putin suggested domestic issues in Britain could be driving the case, saying: “Nobody wants to look into these.”

“We just see the ungrounded accusations – why is it done this way? Why should our relationship be made worse by this?” the Russian leader also said.

Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and daughter Yulia collapsed in Salisbury on March 4 after being exposed to Novichok. Both have since recovered.

Then on June 30, Charlie Rowley and his partner Dawn Sturgess fell ill not far from the Skripal attack after being exposed to the same nerve agent. Sturgess died on July 8.

Russia has strongly denied poisoning the Skripals, sparking a diplomatic row that has led to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between Britain and its allies, and Russia.

Police have not been able to establish whether the Novichok that Rowley and Sturgess were exposed to was from the same batch used against the Skripals but have said that a possible connection is their main line of inquiry.

Rowley remains seriously ill in hospital but his brother has told the BBC that the 45-year-old fell ill after picking up a discarded perfume bottle.

“What kind of bottle? What is the chemical formula? Who’s got it?” Putin said in his interview.   /kga