'Think up new fairytales'

Moscow on Monday rejected British Prime Minister Theresa May's statement to parliament that Russia was “highly likely” responsible for the poisoning of a former spy on British soil.

The statement was part of an “information and political campaign based on provocation,” said Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova in comments carried by news agencies.

“This is a circus in the British parliament,” she added.

“Rather than think up new fairytales, maybe someone in the kingdom could explain how the previous ones ended up - about Litvinenko, Berezovsky, Perepilichnyy and many others who have mysteriously died on British soil,” Zakharova said.

Former spy Alexander Litvinenko, oligarch Boris Berezovsky and whistleblower Alexander Perepilichnyy all died in the UK in recent years.

The Kremlin has long rejected any involvement in their deaths, despite a British judge concluding Russian President Vladimir Putin likely approved Litvinenko's killing.

May on Monday pointed the finger at Russia for trying to kill Sergei Skripal, who sold secrets to Britain and later moved there in a 2010 spy swap.

But she stopped short of announcing retaliatory measures against Moscow and instead gave the Kremlin until the end of yesterday to explain.

Theresa May said that Russian state involvement, if proven, would be considered an “unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom” and would draw a strong response.

May said that British scientists have determined that Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury with Novichock — a form of nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union near the end of the Cold War — and there were two possible explanations.

“Either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country, or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others,” she said.

She said Britain would be prepared to take “much more extensive measures” than the diplomatic expulsions and limited sanctions imposed after the death of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with radioactive tea in London in 2006.

“There can be no question of business as usual with Russia,” she said.

“We will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil,” May added.

Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, remain in critical condition following the March 4 nerve agent attack. A police detective who came in contact with them is in serious but stable condition.

The Kremlin has dismissed claims it was behind the attack on the Skripals.

Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Sergei Skripal worked for British intelligence and was poisoned on British soil, and therefore the incident “has nothing to do with Russia, let alone the Russian leadership”. Peskov also said the Kremlin hasn't heard any official statements of Russian involvement.

Skripal was a Russian military intelligence officer when he was recruited to spy for Britain in the 1990s.

He was jailed in Russia in 2006 for revealing state secrets before being freed in a spy swap in 2010.

He had settled in the cathedral city of Salisbury, 140km southwest of London.

He and his daughter were found comatose on a bench near the city centre after visiting an Italian restaurant and a pub.

Almost 200 troops, including soldiers trained in chemical warfare and decontamination, have been deployed to Salisbury to assist the police investigation into where the nerve agent came from and how it was delivered.

British officials have said the risk to the public is low, but urged people who visited the Zizzi restaurant or the Mill pub to wash their clothes and take other precautions.

Some have questioned why it took health authorities a week to issue the advice.

NAMPA/AP