Sergei Skripal: Kremlin Rejects Britain’s Attempts to Grill Poisoning Suspects

Russia will refuse to help with any attempts by British police to interview the two men suspected of attempting to murder former spy Sergei Skripal on U.K. soil. Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said the Kremlin would provide no assistance if the Metropolitan Police—the leaders of the investigation—attempted to interview Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov. The two suspects provided an absurd explanation Thursday for their trip to Salisbury, England, on the day of the attempted murder, insisting they wanted to visit the local cathedral. “You’d have to ask those citizens if they’d be open to requests,” said Peskov. “We don’t organize [police] interviews with Russian citizens.” However, Russia did allow British police to interview the suspects in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. Peskov claimed the two suspects are “ordinary citizens who have no association with the Russian government,” though British investigators have said both have been determined to be Russian GRU military-intelligence agents.