Russia demands Johnson meeting
Russia has asked to meet with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to discuss the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
The Foreign Of f ice confirmed they had received the request from the Russian embassy after the toxin left former double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia fighting for their lives.
Yulia has since recovered and her father is said to no longer be in a critical condition.
Johnson has been one of the most vocal Government critics of Vladimir Putin’s regime over the attempted assassination.
The request for a meeting comes as speculation mounts that the Skripals could be able to offer officers probing the attack missing clues.
An FCO spokeswoman said: “We have received a request. We will be responding in due course.”
Skripal, 66, and 33-yearold Yulia were left fighting for their lives in hospital a f t e r b e i n g fou nd unconscious on a bench in Salisbury on March 4.
Johnson said the improving condition of Skripal was “great news” and “testament to the quick work” of the emergency services.
In a statement posted on their website yesterday, the Russian Embassy said “interaction” between them and the Foreign Office was “utterly unsatisfactory”.
They added: “We hope that the British side will engage constructively and that such a meeting is arranged shortly.”
Moscow has denied responsibility for the attack but the incident has plunged diplomat ic r e l a t ions between Russia and the West into the deep freeze.