23 March 2018•Update: 23 March 2018
By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW
Moscow hopes to minimize the negative impact on Russian-British ties provoked by the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy, Russia said on Friday.
Complaining of the U.K.’s “hostile policy,” presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Moscow wanted to soften the blow of the crisis through political and diplomatic means.
"We see how the country of Byron and Shakespeare, the country of Conan Doyle, a country which once was a shining empire with the deepest political traditions of democracy, turned into a country whose politicians, mildly speaking, make irresponsible statements. This is a problem. This is a reflection of a very hostile policy," he said.
"We see many elements of the Cold War. The higher Russia rises, the tougher they [Western countries] get in international affairs. They are ready to forget all the rules when they want to suppress Russia," Peskov said.
Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were admitted to a hospital on March 4 after being found unconscious in the southern English city of Salisbury.
Skripal was granted refuge in the UK following a 2010 spy exchange between the U.S. and Russia. Before the exchange, he was serving 13 years in prison for leaking information to British intelligence.
On March 16, the Investigative Committee of Russia launched its own probe into the Skripal case.
‘Putin will not rule Russia forever’
President Vladimir Putin did not expect to get such great support in Sunday’s election, said Peskov.
"He said himself that was quite unexpected for him," said Peskov.
"When Russian people suffer from pressure from outside, they line up behind a strong leader," he said.
Peskov also stressed Putin will not change the Constitution so can rule Russia forever.
"He didn't do it in 2008,” at the end of his second presidential term, Peskov pointed out.
Putin scored a record 76.67 percent of the vote, easily winning a new six-year term.
‘Unproven charge’
Separately, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Friday it considers the EU blaming Moscow for the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter an "unproven charge".
Ascribing responsibility to Russia with the words "there are no other plausible explanations" is an unsubstantiated allegation against Russia, said a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry website.
The ministry reiterated questions from the Russian side: How could the British side so quickly determine what poison was used and what anti-venom was ? Why isn’t London posting surveillance cameras footage? Why is London “hiding” the Skripals’ condition?
In light the current situation, Russia will consider further exchanges only through the Organization for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said the statement.
On Thursday, following EU summit in Brussels, the UK, Germany France reaffirmed the Russian state was responsible for the nerve agent poisoning of Skripal and his daughter.
