Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov redirected on Tuesday a question regarding the progress of the Russian investigation into the Skripal case to the Investigative Committee, noting that the president did not follow every investigation but was informed of sensitive topics.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd October, 2018) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov redirected on Tuesday a question regarding the progress of the Russian investigation into the Skripal case to the Investigative Committee, noting that the president did not follow every investigation but was informed of sensitive topics.
"This can only be done by the Investigative Committee, so it is better for you to address it there," Peskov told reporters, asked whether Putin was following the progress of the Russian investigation into the Skripal case and, if so, what were the main scenarios being considered.
He noted that it was impossible to report every investigation to the president.
"He is aware of sensitive topics, of course, but in any case, the Investigative Committee is the exclusive source of this information in this case," the spokesman concluded.
Former Russian double agent officer Sergei Skripal, who was convicted of treason in Russia, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in the UK city of Salisbury in early March. The United Kingdom has accused Moscow of having orchestrated the attack with what the UK experts have claim was the A234 nerve agent. Moscow, in turn, has firmly refuted the allegations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the Skripal affair was falling apart due to the lack of evidence proving Russian involvement. The Russian Foreign Ministry has sent some 60 diplomatic notes to the UK Foreign Office demanding that Russia be given access to the investigation and the Skripals, who have Russian citizenship, as well as requesting legal assistance and proposing cooperation, including on the joint inquiry. The UK authorities have not responded to any of these notes.
On September 5, UK prosecutors brought charges against two Russian citizens, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, under four articles of the criminal law, including the attempted murder via poisoning of the Skripals and UK police officer Nick Bailey in Salisbury. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has said she believed that the suspects worked for the Russia's military intelligence service GRU, but failed to provide any evidence.
In March, then UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson claimed that London had concrete evidence of Moscow's involvement in the attack. The accusations then turned out to be false after UK experts failed to identify the source of origin of the substance used in the attack. The UK Foreign Office then confirmed that the conclusion on the Moscow's alleged trace in the attack was made based on the evaluation of information rather than factual evidence.
