Speaking after winning a new term in the Russian presidential election, Putin dismissed the “absurd” claims and questioned why “Russia would do anything like that before the elections and the World Cup” this summer.
The Russian president said Russia did not possess the military nerve agent British officials say was used in the attack, and if that toxin had been used, more people would have fallen victim.
In his first comments since the attack, Putin described the attack on the Skripals’ as a “tragedy”, but said the victims would have died instanly if Russia was involved.
The Russian leader said his nation was ready to cooperate with British authorities.
His denial comes after Moscow expelled 23 British diplomats in retaliation against Theresa May’s decision to banish Russians from London.
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Theresa May used her Conservative Party’s spring conference in London to take a swipe at Russia saying their response “doesn’t change the facts of the matter”.
The PM has said it is “highly likely” Russia was behind the attack, demanding answers from Moscow, and expelled Russian diplomats from British soil.
But the Kremlin refused to respond, demanding to see evidence and information on the chemicals used on Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Mr Skripal, a former colonel in the GRU who betrayed dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence, and his daughter have been critically ill since March 4, when they were found unconscious on a bench.
A British policeman was also poisoned when he went to help them and remains in a serious but stable condition.
Russian investigators said they had opened a criminal investigation into the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal and offered to cooperate with British authorities.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson this morning made a fierce attack against Russian Ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, who claimed the Kremlin had no supplies of chemical weapons.
Speaking on BBC’s The Andrew Marr’s Show, the Russian Ambassador said Russia has “no stockpile of chemical weapons whatsoever” and therefore could not be responsible for the production of the nerve agent identified as Novichok in the attack.
But Mr Johnson hit back claiming that not only the UK Government has evidence of Russia investigating the delivery of chemical weapons, but also that they have been creating and stockpiling Novichok.