"The Russian Foreign Ministry has requested that the British ambassador to Moscow provide fingerprints of men that London called suspects in the Skripal case and connected them to Russia," the diplomat informed. "The British ambassador stated that the British side would not provide these materials."

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. British Ambassador to Moscow Laurie Bristow has stated during a meeting in the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday that London would not provide fingerprints of two male suspects in the Skripal case, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova informed TASS.

Zakharova added that London also declined to share any other information related to the case, including the suspects’ ID numbers, and their personal information. "We hope that Interpol, at least, will deliver this information to us," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said. Earlier she stated that the suspects’ names "say nothing" to Russia.

The British side has refused to respond to requests of the Russian embassy concerning the information on two suspects in the Skripal case, she said.

"The British side did not provide any answers to our diplomats’ requests concerning the information that was published," the diplomat noted.

According to her, so far, Moscow knows only "names and surnames of the suspects, there are photos, but nothing more: no passport numbers, no visa numbers, no extra data." "Why this information has not been reflected today, not publically, not during the contact between our embassy and the British side, is a big mystery," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed. Earlier, she stated that the suspects’ names "say nothing" to Russia.

May told the UK parliament on Wednesday that the Crown Prosecution Service was ready to charge two Russian citizens - Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - with an attempt on the lives of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Reports also stated that the British police would go ahead with inquiries into the Salisbury and Amesbury poisonings as parts of one case. May added that the operation was "approved at a senior level of the Russian state."

On March 4, former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal, convicted in Russia of spying for Britain, and his daughter Yulia, were affected by a nerve gas of the Novichok class in Salisbury. The British government claimed that Russia might have been involved in the incident. Moscow strongly dismissed all speculations on that score, adding that programs for developing this substance had never existed in the Soviet Union or Russia.

Britain’s military chemical laboratory at Porton down has failed to identify the origin of the substance that poisoned the Skripals. </s> The Kremlin has said Russia is not investigating the two men that Britain has named as suspects in the nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy.

Britain on Wednesday announced charges in absentia against two alleged Russian agents, and Theresa May has accused the Russian government of orchestrating the March attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said on Thursday that the prime minister's accusations were "unacceptable" and that "no one in the Russian leadership" has anything to do with the poisoning.

Peskov said Russia "has no reasons" to investigate the two individuals – Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov– charged on Wednesday because Britain had not asked for legal assistance with the case.

“Neither the highest-level of Russia’s leadership, nor lower ranks, nor any official representatives had or have anything to do with the events in Salisbury,” said Peskov. “Even the suggestion that they did so is unacceptable. Russia was not involved.”

May told the House of Commons on Wednesday that the attempted murder of Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer, and his daughter, Yulia, had likely been approved at the highest levels of the Russian government. Ben Wallace, the British security minister, said on Thursday that Putin was “ultimately responsible".

Peskov also said Russia had not received any official request from Britain for assistance in identifying the two suspected Russian GRU military intelligence officers that Scotland Yard believes carried out the attack – the first use of chemical weapons in Europe since the end of the second world war. “For us to be able to do something in this direction, we need to receive a request,” Peskov said. “This is usual international practice.”

Earlier Russia said its request for the British embassy in Moscow to provide the fingerprint records of the two men had been met with “an unconditional refusal”.

Moscow said Laurie Bristow, the British ambassador to Russia, was summoned to the foreign ministry shortly after May’s statement.

Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, told state television that Russian nationals would have had to provide fingerprints to receive a British visa.

Appearing in the studio of the 60 Minutes programme, she called the British refusal to allow Russia to study the alleged GRU officers’ fingerprints records “a gross rudeness”. The UK had refused to share evidence through official channels, she complained, and had staged an “absurd and funny provocation”.

Zakharova claimed Moscow was still open to cooperating with London in the investigation into the attack in Salisbury. The British embassy was not immediately available for comment.

She also described British accusations that Russia was behind the high-profile poisoning in Salisbury as “a hellish carousel that has no end or beginning”. She accused British authorities of doctoring CCTV images that the Metropolitan police say show the two suspects arriving on Friday 2 March at Gatwick airport. Police say the two men used aliases to travel to Britain.

“The same place, the same corridor, and the timestamp on the footage is identical to the second,” Zakharova said. “Accordingly, either the date and the exact time were overlaid on the image, or these are GRU agents who have learned to walk synchronously while appearing separately in two different photos. You know, this is god-level trolling,” the foreign ministry spokeswoman added, using a computer-game term.

On Thursday Scotland Yard said the images of the two suspects at Gatwick were taken from two different cameras covering separate lanes. The photos were recorded at the point passengers exit from international arrivals, a spokesperson said. Gatwick airport has several, nearly identical gate corridors that people arriving in Britain must pass through. The Scotland Yard response was also cited by Russia’s state-controlled RIA Novosti news agency.

Leonid Slutsky, the head of the Russian parliament’s international relations committee, also lashed out at May’s allegations that Moscow had dispatched would-be assassins to Salisbury.

"Britain is continuing a large-scale anti-Russian provocation,” he said. "This is absolute nonsense. Once again there is no real evidence of Russia's involvement, only ungrounded accusations.”

May’s claims that GRU officers carried out the chemical weapons attack in Salisbury came two days after Putin signed a presidential decree making information about freelance agents who carry out operations for Russian foreign intelligence services a state secret.

On Wednesday, Estonia said it had detained two of its nationals on suspicion of spying for Russia. One worked at the country’s defence forces’ headquarters. The men are suspected of passing Estonian and foreign classified information to GRU officers. </s> Russia has told the UK it must send home "just over 50" more of its diplomats in a tit-for-tat row following the nerve agent attack.

Russia has already retaliated against Britain for the UK's expulsion of Russian 'intelligence agents' by ejecting 23 British diplomats over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury.

On Friday, the UK's ambassador to Moscow was told London had one month to cut its diplomatic contingent in Russia to the same size as the Russian mission in Britain.

On Saturday, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that meant Britain would have to cut "a little over 50" of its diplomats in Russia.

"We asked for parity. The Brits have 50 diplomats more than the Russians," she said.

It comes after Russia claimed UK authorities searched one of their planes at a London airport in what they called a "blatant provocation".

The Metropolitan Police denied the force had inspected an airbus that had landed at Heathrow having departed from Moscow.

It said: "We are aware of a story circulating on social media. Please be advised that Metropolitan Police are not conducting a search of an Airbus inbound from Moscow at Heathrow."

The Russian Embassy in the UK said in a statement: "Today, we have witnessed another blatant provocation by the British authorities.

"Border Force and Customs officers have searched the aircraft that was conducting the Aeroflot flights 2582 / 2583, Moscow - London - Moscow.

"This kind of event is extraordinary."

They also alleged British officials had tried to search the plane in the absence of the crew.

"After an Embassy officer arrived at the airport, long negotiations were conducted that allowed to ensure the right of the captain to take part in the search," they added.

"After the search was over, the British officers refused to provide any written document that would specify the reasons for their actions, their legal foundation and their outcome.

"Our attempts to get in touch with the Foreign Office in order to clarify the reasons of the inappropriate behaviour of British officials did not bring fruit. The Embassy has sent a diplomatic note demanding the British side to provide explanations of the incident.

"Of course, we will carefully analyse what has happened. At this moment, we have no other explanation but that the incident at Heathrow is in one way or another connected with the hostile policy that the UK government is conducting with regard to Russia."

The news comes as Russia continues to expel other foreign diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to countries across the world sending home Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain following the nerve agent attack in Salisbury.

Russia faces mass expulsions of its diplomatic staff around the world, with more than 150 sent back from 25 countries, and NATO.

Ambassadors from a number of other nations, including Germany, Italy, Poland and France, were also summoned by Moscow's foreign ministry.

Ms Skripal is understood to be conscious and talking having been poisoned with novichok while visiting her father in Salisbury.

Police are treating the attack as attempted murder.

Mr Skripal, a former Russian spy, has been in a critical condition since 4 March. </s> LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will expel 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation for a chemical attack on a former Russian double agent, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday.

Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found slumped unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in the genteel southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. They have been in a critical condition ever since.

Below is a list of the actions set out by May in parliament on Wednesday:

- Britain will expel 23 Russian diplomats who it says have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers.

“They have just one week to leave,” May said. “This will be the single biggest expulsion for over thirty years and it reflects the fact that this is not the first time that the Russian State has acted against our country.”

- Britain “will freeze Russian state assets wherever we have the evidence that they may be used to threaten the life or property of UK nationals or residents”.

- Britain will develop new laws to harden its defenses against all forms of “hostile state activity” including being able to detain those suspected of hostile state activity at Britain’s borders. Currently this power is only used in relation to those suspected of terrorism.

- No British ministers or members of the Royal Family will attend this year’s soccer World Cup. Britain will suspend all planned high level bi-lateral contacts between the UK and the Russian Federation.

- All capabilities of UK law enforcement will be brought to bear against “serious criminals and corrupt elites”, May says, adding that there is there is “no place” for them or their money in Britain.

- Britain will “fundamentally degrade” Russian intelligence capability in the UK for years to come and prevent them from rebuilding it.

- Britain will start to monitor and track the intentions of those traveling to the UK who could be engaged in activity that threatens Britain and its allies. “We will increase checks on private flights, customs and freight,” she said.

- Britain’s interior minister will consider whether new counter-espionage powers are needed to clamp down on hostile activities of foreign agents in Britain.

- Britain will seek to strengthen its power to impose sanctions in response to the violations of human rights. “In doing so, we will play our part in an international effort to punish those responsible for the sorts of abuses suffered by Sergei Magnitsky,” May said.

- May said “it is tragic that President Putin has chosen to act in this way”, adding that she has no disagreement with Russian people or Russian citizens living in Britain in a law-abiding away. </s> The United Kingdom’s Crown Prosecution Service on Wednesday named and charged two Russian men as suspects in the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March. Police appealed to the public to share any information on the two men, identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.

The Crown Prosecution Service charged the suspects, in absentia, with a conspiracy to murder, attempted murder and use of the nerve agent Novichok.

Prosecutor Sue Hemming said the United Kingdom will not ask Russia to extradite the suspects as Moscow prohibits the extradition of its citizens. “Should this position change, then an extradition request would be made,” Hemming said. “We have, however, obtained a European Arrest Warrant which means that if either man travels to a country where the warrant is valid, they will be arrested and face extradition on these charges for which there is no statute of limitations.”

Hemming said the evidence can be used in court. “It is of course for a jury to decide whether the evidence is enough for them to be sure of the suspects’ guilt,” Hemming said.

Police said the two men flew from Moscow to London on Russian passports two days before the attack on March 4, AP reported. Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Basu said the men were probably using aliases.

On March 4, Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a park bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury, England. They recovered after weeks of treatment.

The poisoning led to a major diplomatic controversy globally. The UK and its allies, including the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, accused Moscow of involvement in the incident and expelled 23 Russian diplomats from their territory. The US expelled 60 suspected Russian spies after the incident.

Russia has repeatedly denied claims that the nerve agent, Novichok, used to poison the pair was developed in the country or the Soviet Union.

In July, a woman died in Amesbury town in South West England after being exposed to the same nerve agent. Amesbury is about 13 km from Salisbury, the place where Skripal was poisoned.

In August, the United States announced its decision to impose sanctions on Russia for its alleged use of a nerve gas agent. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption On the trail of Russians Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, who UK police carried out a nerve agent attack in Salisbury in March 2018

Vladimir Putin must take responsibility for the Salisbury Novichok attack, UK security minister Ben Wallace has said.

Mr Wallace told the BBC "ultimately, of course", Russia's president was behind the poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in March.

The Kremlin, which denies involvement, said it was "unacceptable" to make accusations against the leadership.

The UK has named two men believed to be from Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU, as the main suspects.

Theresa May told the Commons on Wednesday that the suspects had entered the UK on Russian passports using the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.

She said the poisoning was "not a rogue operation" and was "almost certainly" approved at a senior level of the Russian state.

Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were poisoned with Novichok on 4 March. Det Sgt Nick Bailey also fell ill after responding to the incident in Salisbury.

Prosecutors say there is sufficient evidence to charge the two men, and UK officials are due to brief the UN Security Council on the investigation on Thursday.

Police have also linked the attack to a separate Novichok poisoning on 30 June in Amesbury, that led to the death of 44-year-old mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess.

Meeting with the UN

Britain called Thursday's meeting of the UN Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member, along with China and UK allies the US and France.

Mr Wallace said the UK must use the meeting to "maintain the pressure, to say the behaviour we have seen is totally unacceptable".

He said Mr Putin's government "controls, funds and directs the military intelligence - that's the GRU", adding that nobody could say the Russian leader was "not in control of his state".

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said that alongside the meeting, it was thought there would be less visible activity including covert work by British intelligence to disrupt the GRU.

Mrs May has also said Britain will push for the EU to agree new sanctions against Russia.

Ahead of the UN meeting, Australia said it was "in lock step with the UK on the importance of holding Russia to account" over the "dangerous and deliberate act".

What might the UK do to disrupt the GRU?

Analysis by BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera

The most effective measure, officials claim, may have already been taken in expelling suspected Russian intelligence officers in the UK and from allied countries.

Names will also be shared to prevent them being posted to each other's nations.

There will be the attempt to use publicity and exposure to make it harder for its officers to travel and operate.

Other measures against Russia more generally, it is hoped, might also push the Kremlin to restrain the GRU.

Finally, there will be a more clandestine element.

This is unlikely to mean "cyber-war", rather it will be attempts to disrupt the GRU's own cyber-operations to try to make its life harder.

Police appeal

Image copyright Metropolitan Police Image caption In the evening of 4 March, CCTV showed the pair at Heathrow Airport, where they were to board a flight to Moscow

Police are asking the public for information about a suitcase seen in the CCTV image of the two suspects at Heathrow Airport on Sunday 4 March, before they flew to Moscow.

In the image, Mr Petrov can be seen pushing a hard dark-coloured wheelie suitcase with a green stripe of the size that can fit into hand luggage lockers.

It does not appear that he arrived in the country with the suitcase.

Image copyright Metropolitan Police Image caption The pair are seen in the centre of Salisbury heading towards the train station

Counter terrorism officers are also interested in any information the public can give them about the grey and olive backpack that Mr Petrov and Mr Boshirov were both seen wearing at different times on the Sunday.

Moscow reaction: 'Go to hell'

By BBC Monitoring

Responding to the fresh accusations, the Kremlin's media machine resorted to its usual tactic: a combination of denials and sarcasm.

"Don't laugh," said a talk-show host on state TV, delivering the latest news from London.

The foreign ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, put in an appearance herself to accuse the UK of fabricating the Skripal case. "This whole story was created to punish Russia... to introduce sanctions," she said on Rossiya 1 TV.

"A detective story" and "an absurd political thriller" were some of the epithets used by Russian news bulletins, which also claimed that Britain's allegations were not backed up by a shred of evidence.

At the same time, they dismissed the suspects' photographs released by London as crude fakery.

"Put evidence on the table or go to hell," said one commentator on Russian state TV.

The suspects' movements

Image copyright Metropolitan Police Image caption Police released CCTV showing the two men arriving at Gatwick Airport on 2 March

Image copyright Metropolitan Police Image caption They were seen arriving at Salisbury station the following day for what officers said was reconnaissance

The Metropolitan Police said the two men arrived at Gatwick Airport from Moscow on 2 March and stayed at the City Stay Hotel in Bow Road, east London.

On 4 March they travelled to Salisbury - having also visited for reconnaissance the previous day - where Mr Skripal's front door was contaminated with Novichok.

Image caption Yulia and Sergei Skripal fell ill after Mr Skripal's front door was sprayed with Novichok

Officers believe a modified perfume bottle was used to spray the door.

The pair flew from Heathrow to Moscow later that night.

Image copyright PA Image caption The hotel in east London, where police say Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov stayed before they travelled to Salisbury, is "open for business as usual"

While traces of Novichok were found in the London hotel room, police said there was no risk to other guests who were staying at the hotel at the time.

Officers want to hear from anyone who was a guest there from 4 March to 4 May.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Petrov and Boshirov should be charged with offences including conspiracy to murder; attempted murder and the use and possession of Novichok contrary to the Chemical Weapons Act.

However, it is not applying to Russia for the extradition of the two men, because Russia does not extradite its nationals.

But a European Arrest Warrant has been obtained in case the pair travel to the EU.

Amesbury poisoning

Image copyright Facebook Image caption Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley were poisoned by Novichok

Police said Ms Sturgess and her partner Charlie Rowley were later exposed to Novichok in Amesbury, near Salisbury, after handling a contaminated container, labelled as Nina Ricci Premier Jour perfume.

Mr Rowley told police he found the box containing the small bottle and an applicator - all found to be counterfeit - in a charity bin.

He tried to put the two parts together and got some of the contents on himself. His partner Ms Sturgess applied some of the contents to her wrists and became unwell.

The bottle, with a modified nozzle, had contained a "significant amount" of Novichok, Scotland Yard said.

Image copyright AFP/Met Police Image caption The counterfeit perfume bottle recovered from Mr Rowley's home and the box police say it came in.

The charges Petrov and Boshirov would face currently relate only to the Salisbury attack. Police said officers are continuing to work with the Crown Prosecution Service on the Amesbury incident. </s> Russia authorities said that action would be taken against the UK if an answer was not given regarding the aeroflot search.

Russia’s ministry of transport said Moscow would demand an official explanation from Britain for why a Russian Aeroflot passenger plane had been subjected to a search at Heathrow airport on Friday.

The Russian embassy in Britain complained about the search at the time.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Transport said it wanted to know what had happened. "If there is no explanation, the Russian side will deem the actions towards our plane as illegal and also reserve the right to take similar action against British airlines," it said in a statement.

Meanwhile the British government is considering allowing visits to Yulia Skripal, who is recovering in hospital after being poisoned along with her father, a Russian ex-spy, in a nerve agent attack blamed by Britain on Russia.

"We are considering requests for consular access in line with our obligations under international and domestic law, including the rights and wishes of Yulia Skripal," a spokeswoman for Britain's foreign ministry in London said.

The Russian Embassy in London said in a tweet on Friday that "we insist on the right to see" Skripal, a Russian citizen. </s> Moscow (CNN) The UK will be expected to cut around 50 personnel from its diplomatic missions in Russia as tensions between the two nations deteriorate further following the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told CNN on Saturday that the number was calculated to ensure the two nations achieve parity in how many staff members they have working at their diplomatic missions.

Russia is now insisting that more leave so the staff will be the same size in the countries' respective embassies.

Also Saturday, Russia's Ministry of Transport said it planned to ask the UK why authorities searched a Moscow-bound Aeroflot plane Friday at London's Heathrow Airport.

On its website, the ministry said, "In the absence of an explanation, the Russian side will regard these actions against our aircraft as illegal, and also reserves the possibility of similar actions against British air carriers."

The UK Security Minister said the search was "routine."

"It is routine for Border Force to search aircraft to protect the UK from (organized) crime and from those who attempt to bring harmful substances like drugs or firearms into the country," spokesman Ben Wallace said in a statement to CNN. "Once these checks were carried out the plane was allowed to carry on with its onward journey."

"We are considering requests for consular access in line with our obligations under international and domestic law, including the rights and wishes of Yulia Skripal," a spokeswoman for the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said Saturday.

On Friday, the Russian Embassy in London tweeted, "Good news as Yulia Skripal is reported as recovering well. We insist on the right to see her, in accordance with the 1968 Consular Convention." </s> Russia's embassy in London yesterday accused Britain of "deliberately" withholding information on probes into the targeting of several Russians on its soil, as the war of words between the two countries continued

Russia's embassy based in London, accused Britain of 'deliberately' withholding information on the probes that targetted several Russians. The embassy said that it had asked the British Foriegn Office for 'detailed information' on the investigation of the March 12 murders in London of Nikolai Glushkov.

The death came a week after the nerve agent poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury. The embassy said in a statement,,"Given our numerous requests, the only thing we can suggest is that it is done deliberately."

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson wrote on Sunday that "no other government devotes as much time and effort to the business of trying to sabotage or discredit international inquiries" as Russia.

US repatriation for poisoned Russians

The former Russian double agent and his daughter, who are recovering from nerve agent poisoning, will be offered new identities and repatriated to the US with the help of the CIA, a media report has claimed. MI6 officials have had discussions with CIA about resettling them.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

The inputs from agencies have been sourced from a third party syndicated feed. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text
Russia says that the United Kingdom declines to provide them with the suspects' fingerprints.