Kremlin to mull any request for interview

The Kremlin has said it will consider any request by Britain to question the two suspects in the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

The UK has accused the two Russian men, who appeared on Russian television network RT on Thursday, of the attempted murder of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any request from London to interview them would be considered in “strict accordance with the law”, but claimed so far the British had rejected any offer to co-operate in the investigation.

“Only this week, we heard an official statement from London, which said that they did not plan to employ the legal assistance mechanism and send any requests to Russia,” Mr Peskov said.

“It is London’s official stance and we regret to say that it is impossible to make any assumptions, unfortunately.

“In case we receive an official request from London, it will definitely be considered in strict accordance with the law. There is no doubt about that.”

The two men, who gave their names as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, said they had visited Salisbury as tourists and had nothing to do with the attack on the Skripals.