Russia has said it has "no information" about what could have caused a former agent convicted of spying for Britain to collapse in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
But the Kremlin said it was willing to co-operate in the police investigation.
UK police are trying to identify what substance left Sergei Skripal, 66 - who was granted refuge in the UK in 2010 under a "spy swap" - and a 33-year-old woman critically ill in hospital.
The pair were were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping centre on Sunday.
Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, told journalists that Moscow was prepared to help with the investigation.
"We see this tragic situation but we don't have information on what could have led to this, what he was engaged in", he said.
Wiltshire Police said the pair, found at The Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, had no visible injuries - but that officers were investigating whether a crime had been committed
Sergei Skripal: Who is the former Russian colonel?
Putin, power and poison: Russia’s elite FSB spy club
Meanwhile, police have closed the nearby Zizzi restaurant "as a precaution" following the incident.
Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said: "They are currently being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance.
"The focus is trying to establish what has caused these people to become critically ill.
"We are working with partners to prioritise this diagnosis and ensure that they receive the most appropriate and timely treatment."
He said the police's "major incident" response was not a counter-terrorism investigation.
But he said multiple agencies were involved and police were keeping an "open mind".
Col Skripal, who is a retired Russian military intelligence officer, was jailed for 13 years by Russia in 2006.
He was convicted of passing the identities of Russian intelligence agents working undercover in Europe to the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6.
No comments:
Post a Comment