Russia has destroyed all of its chemical weapons under the international observers’ supervision and is ready to cooperate, participate in the investigation of a former colonel of Russia's GRU secret service Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia poisoning in the UK, Russian president-elect Vladimir Putin has told reporters after the end of the presidential election.
Putin said that he learned about the incident in Salisbury from the media. "And the first thing that comes to mind is that if it was a military nerve agent, people, of course, would have perished on the scene. This is a plain fact; it just needs to be understood. Second, Russia does not have such agents at all. We destroyed all our chemical weapons under the supervision of international observers, and we did it first, unlike some of our partners who promised to do the same, but unfortunately they did not keep their commitments," he said.
At the same time, Putin noted that he does not yet see London's interest in cooperation, but does not remove the possibility of working together from the agenda. "As for the situation as a whole, I think that any sane person understands that this is a bunch of rubbish, delusion, nonsense: that someone in Russia would resort to such gaffe before the presidential election and the FIFA World Cup. It is just inconceivable. Nevertheless, despite all these difficulties, we are ready for joint work, ready to discuss any issues and to overcome any difficulties," he stressed.
As EADaily reported earlier, Sergei Skripal, a former colonel of Russia's GRU military intelligence service, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury, UK, in early March. Britain declared Moscow's involvement in the assassination attempt and adopted a number of anti-Russian measures, including the expulsion of 23 diplomats. In response, Russia declared a similar number of employees of the British diplomatic mission personae non grata. Also, the British Council and the United Kingdom Consulate in St. Petersburg will be closed.
