Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says British authorities used Salisbury incident to 'deliberately complicate bilateral ties with Russia'

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it will continue seeking a "professional, objective, unbiased" investigation of an attack on former spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Great Britain.

On the 5th occasion of the incident, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the British authorities used the Salisbury incident to "deliberately complicate bilateral ties with Russia."

"Despite numerous appeals from the Russian side and calls for a responsible dialogue, London still refuses to discuss and jointly investigate this incident, as a result of which Russian citizens were injured.

"The British also neglect their international legal obligations, including under the bilateral Consular Convention of 1965. At the same time, the leadership of the United Kingdom continues to shamelessly use it in its large-scale anti-Russian propaganda campaign," Zakharova said.

The spokeswoman added that Moscow "strongly condemns" London's attempts to put responsibility for what happened on the Russia side, "will continue seeking the truth" as there are "obvious inconsistencies" in the British position.

"We insist on professional, objective, unbiased investigation," she stressed.

Zakharova also said the diplomatic service will continue demanding from the British authorities "comprehensive official information," as well as "the fulfillment of their international legal obligations regarding the provision of consular access to our fellow citizens."

On March 4, 2018, former Russian spy Skripal and his daughter were admitted to a hospital after being found unconscious in Salisbury.

After weeks in the hospital, they were discharged and later reportedly lived in an MI6 safe house.

Salisbury resident Dawn Sturgess, 44, died that July, after handling a perfume bottle the Skripals apparently came into contact with.

Skripal was granted refuge in the UK following a 2010 spy exchange between the US and Russia. Before the exchange, he had been serving a 13-year prison term for leaking information to British intelligence.

Great Britain's assessment that the Russian government was behind the 2018 Salisbury attack on an ex-spy and his daughter has not changed.