Kremlin: Russia has no reasons to take action towards Petrov, Boshirov

Russia has no official reasons to take any action towards Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, whom London suspects of involvement in the Salisbury incident, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Friday.

"No action has been taken towards them, because there are no reasons for this. They have violated no laws in Russian territory and we have no official information as to whether they violated some laws elsewhere around the world. De jure and de facto," Peskov said, adding that London had not addressed Moscow with a request for legal assistance in the Sergei and Yulia Skripal assassination attempt case.

About the television channel RT’s interview with Petrov and Boshirov, Peskov said "the question is not about whether it was to Russia’s benefit or detriment."

"The British side named two Russian citizens and accused them of complicity in this incident. These two Russian citizens have showed up," Peskov said.

Asked if Petrov and Boshirov were involved in the Skripal poisoning case being investigated by Russia’s Investigative Committee, Peskov suggested putting this question to the IC.

"I surmise that in the context of lack of any cooperation with British counterparts the opportunities for the investigation are rather limited," Peskov said.

If the British version of the affair is to be believed, Sergei Skripal, a former GRU colonel convicted in Russia of spying for Britain, and his daughter Yulia, were affected by a Novichok class nerve agent in Salisbury on March 4, 2018. London claimed that Russia was "highly likely" involved in the incident. Moscow strongly dismissed all speculations on that score, adding that no programs for making such a chemical had ever existed in the Soviet Union or Russia.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on September 5 briefed parliament on progress in the investigation of the Salisbury incident, adding that two Russians were suspected of involvement in the assassination attempt against the Skripals. According to British special services both suspects were presumably GRU agents. Scotland Yard published a series of photographs of two men who, according to the investigation, had been travelling about the country with passports issued in the names of Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.