Putin slams 'ungrounded accusations' after UK poisonings

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Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Britain Monday of making baseless allegations against his country after a former Soviet spy was among four people found poisoned by a nerve agent in southern England.

Asked 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 told Fox News after a summit with US President Donald Trump in Finland.

Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned in Salisbury along with her father, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, speaks to media representatives in London, May 23, 2018. /VCG Photo

"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 US presidential election which was won by Trump.

Putin suggested the case could be driven by domestic issues in Britain, 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?"

Former Russian double agent Skripal and his 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.

Police have launched a murder enquiry after Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury, England. /VCG Photo

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.

(Cover: Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump after their bilateral meeting in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP