Russian spy: Russia 'has no information' on Sergei Skripal collapse

Russia has said it has "no information" about what could have caused a former agent convicted of spying for Britain to collapse in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

But the Kremlin said it was willing to co-operate in the police investigation.

UK police are trying to identify what substance left Sergei Skripal, 66 - who was granted refuge in the UK in 2010 under a "spy swap" - and a 33-year-old woman critically ill in hospital.

The pair were were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping centre on Sunday.

Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, told journalists that Moscow was prepared to help with the investigation.

"We see this tragic situation but we don't have information on what could have led to this, what he was engaged in", he said.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley of the Metropolitan Police, the retiring head of counter-terrorism policing in the UK, said the case would become a counter-terrorism investigation "if necessary".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's a very unusual case - and the critical thing is to get the bottom of its causes as quickly as possible.

"We'll throw all the technical, scientific, investigative resources at these sort of cases to [establish] if there is any sign of foul play", he said.

Col Skripal, who is a retired Russian military intelligence officer, was jailed for 13 years by Russia in 2006.

He was convicted of passing the identities of Russian intelligence agents working undercover in Europe to the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6.

Share: