Russia calls UK's Skripal poisoning accusations 'baseless', threatens to expel diplomats 'soon'

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has responded to the UK's accusations against Russia regarding the Skripal poisoning case and claimed the allegations lacked sufficient grounding.   

Peskov also issued a warning to the UK while dismissing Prime Minister Theresa May's allegations that suggested Russia was behind the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury March 4. Kremlin has "no connection" with the incident, Peskov said. 

"Russia perceives the position taken up by UK authorities with great bewilderment and incomprehension. The accusations are groundless. Moreover, these accusations were voiced before any information about the substance used emerged, which shows the presence of all signs of a provocation against Russia," Peskov told reporters.

He also termed the UK's position irresponsible, "from the point of view of the violation of international law by the UK side."

"Therefore, we, of course, are concerned by this situation but we will explain our position to the international community patiently and consistently — Russia has nothing to do with the incident which occurred with Skripal in Salisbury," he added.

Peskov also stated that Russia's retaliatory measures to the accusations of the UK will not take long as the Russian foreign ministry and other government bodies are working on related proposals.

"I will begin [my answer to the question] with retaliatory measures. Of course, they will not be long in coming. Proposals will be prepared in the Foreign Ministry, other departments, but the final decision, of course, will be made by the president of the Russian Federation," Peskov told reporters.

Russian news agency Tass quoted the Kremlin spokesperson as saying: "Moscow's stance is well-known, London was told about Moscow's position through diplomatic channels. Moscow has no connection to the incident that took place in the United Kingdom.

"Moscow won't accept absolutely unfounded accusations against it, which are not substantiated by any evidence, and won't accept the language of ultimatum."

Russia's retaliation comes after British Prime Minister Theresa May claimed that it was "highly likely" that the Russian government was involved in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a 66-year-old former Russian military intelligence officer, and his daughter Yulia.

Both father and daughter were found unconscious on a bench at a Salisbury beach, about 145 kilometers away from London. The duo was critically injured by a 'chemical weapon' when they were found and rushed to the hospital.

The incident created tremors in the diplomatic relations between the UK and Russia as May announced the expulsion of 23 high-level Russian 'diplomats', who were in reality "undeclared intelligence officers" as per the British PM. 

In response, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov also shared Russian's plans of expelling UK diplomats soon, in an interview with Sputnik Thursday.

At the "Russia — a country of possibilities" forum, he stated: "I think that this story primarily reflects the desperation of the current UK government, especially in the situation where they cannot ensure these promises they made to their population in relation to leaving the European Union."

As per the Russian foreign ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the West is attempting to link the Skripal poisoning to the chemical weapons used in Syria.

"After all, what kind of logic was voiced yesterday and what logic is articulated by the so-called expert community? Damascus uses chemical weapons, Russia supports it. The final point in this is that Russia, Moscow, used chemicals in the United Kingdom," she told a briefing.

"This is one of the tracks of this campaign — to link all these elements and to finish the story about chemical weapons in Syria, no one conceals it," she added.