LONDON: A nerve agent attack on a former double agent in Britain is a mystery that needs the attention of someone like fictional detective Hercule Poirot, Russia’s ambassador to London said on Thursday. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are in critical condition after they collapsed on a bench in Salisbury on March 4. Britain accuses Russia of attempted murder but Russia denies involvement and says Britain has no evidence.
Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko was asked at a news conference whether Russia was treating the incident as a joke after the Russian Embassy tweeted that without evidence for what happened, Poirot, the creation of crime fiction writer Agatha Christie, was needed in Salisbury. He defended the tweet.
“We don’t have any information,” Yakovenko told reporters. “The investigation is classified. We don’t know the motivation of the British government, and that’s why it says: this case is so complicated, we need, let’s say, some wisdom of a person like Poirot to investigate.”
England fans will be safe at World Cup: The ambassador insisted that England football fans will be safe at the 2018 World Cup, despite a raging diplomatic crisis.
“They will be safe in Russia,” Alexander Yakovenko told the press conference.
All the necessary measures are being taken, and the British special authorities are in contact with the special Russian authorities to provide security.
“It’s regular precautions that we are doing with every single country.
“I am sure that there will be full security, and by the way there will be a visa free regime for those who are coming to Moscow.
“They will be the guests of Russia.”
Embassy ‘seriously affected’: The Russian embassy in London said its consular services have been “seriously affected” by the expulsion of diplomats.
“As a result of the irresponsible actions of the UK government, which led to an expulsion of 23 diplomats of the Russian embassy, including a number of consular section staff, the consular service for applicants has been seriously affected,” the embassy wrote on Facebook.
Russia’s London embassy announced visitor numbers to the diplomatic mission would be temporarily limited, while the visa application process will take longer.
Fast-track services will take up to three working days, while regular processing will increase to 20 days.
“The embassy is doing its best to re-establish the ordinary workflow for the best functioning of the consular section,” the embassy said, again blaming Britain for the delays. — Reuters/AFP
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