Statements about Russian leadership's involvement in Salisbury incident unacceptable - Nebenzya
MOSCOW. Sept 9 (Interfax) - The allegations expressed by Britain and other Western nations blaming the Russian administration for the Salisbury incident are unacceptable, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.
"I believe that this is unacceptable," Nebenzya said in an interview broadcast as part of the Moscow.Kremlin.Putin television show on the Rossiya-1 channel. This is how he commented on the allegations voiced by London.
His colleagues speaking at UN Security Council meetings never allowed themselves to express any direct accusations against the Russian president, while hinting at the Russian authorities' involvement in the Salisbury poisoning, Nebenzya said.
The United States, Germany, Canada and France said earlier in a joint statement on September 6 that they are supporting Britain's conclusion about the Russian administration's involvement in the March 4 attack on former Russian army intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.
"We have full confidence in the British assessment that the two suspects were officers from the Russian military intelligence service, also known as the GRU, and that this operation was almost certainly approved at a senior [Russian] government level," the leaders of the four countries said.