LONDON, April 7. /TASS/. Moscow remains extremely keen to conduct an impartial and transparent investigation into the incidents in Salisbury and Amesbury, Russia’s Embassy in London said in a statement on Sunday following the meeting of Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko and Charles Rowley who Scotland Yard says was exposed to a 'Novichok-class' nerve agent last summer, on Saturday.

The focus of the discussion, which was initiated by Charles Rowley and his brother Matthew, was on the events around the alleged poisoning of Russia’s former military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in Salisbury in March 2018, as well as Rowley himself and his friend Dawn Sturgess in Amesbury in June 2018. "Firstly, the Ambassador offered his condolences on the tragic death of Dawn Sturgess. Yakovenko noted that the Russian side, as well as the parents of Ms Sturgess, remains keenly interested in a transparent and unbiased investigation of the incidents and in its official results. So far, neither the Embassy, nor the relatives and friends of the victims have seen any," the statement said.

"Yakovenko outlined in detail the Russian view on what had happened in Salisbury and Amesbury. He stressed the fact that the numerous requests from the Russian side to the British authorities mostly remain unanswered. Official London still does its utmost to hide the details of the events, and we understand the just indignation of the relatives and friends of Dawn Sturgess. Charlie Rowley was also given a copy of the Embassy’s report "Salisbury: unanswered questions". Mr Rowley was very surprised by such reluctance of the UK authorities to present any response. He has expressed gratitude for the chance to get an alternative point of view and find out the Russian position on the events. He also noted that the UK authorities do not even provide the proper medical support to him, despite the deteriorating condition of his health," the embassy noted.

Following the meeting, Charlie Rowley said in an interview with the British newspaper Sunday Mirror that he had asked Russia’s ambassador to organize a meeting with President Vladimir Putin for him. According to Rowley, the Russian diplomat replied that he would deliver the request.

British poisonings

According to London, former Russian military intelligence (GRU) Colonel Sergei Skripal, who had been convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and later swapped for Russian intelligence officers, and his daughter Yulia, suffered the effects of an alleged nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury on March 4, 2018. Claiming that the substance used in the attack had been a Novichok-class nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, London rushed to accuse Russia of being involved in the incident. Moscow rejected all of the United Kingdom’s accusations, saying that neither the Soviet Union nor Russia ever had any program aimed at developing such a substance.

On June 30, 2018, 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess and 45-year-old Charles Rowley were hospitalized in critical condition in the British town of Amesbury. The Metropolitan Police went on to claim that the two had been exposed to Novichok, the same nerve agent that was allegedly used in the Skripal poisoning. After being mysteriously exposed to a nerve agent and falling into a coma, Sturgess died on July 8, while Rowley was discharged from the hospital.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a report on September 4 that Dawn Sturgess died after being exposed to the same nerve agent that had been allegedly used in the March attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in neighboring Salisbury.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on September 5 briefed Parliament on progress in the investigation to declare that two Russians carrying passports issued in the names of Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were the suspected attackers. British special services claimed that both were GRU agents. Then men were interviewed on the RT television channel to dismiss the speculations as preposterous.