this is bbc news. the headlines at eight. yulia skripal releases her first statement since the salisbury nerve agent attack, saying she woke up a week ago and that her strength is growing daily. it comes as russian state television broadcasts an unverified recording of a phone call — it claims yulia skripal tells her cousin in russia that "everything is fine". russia's ambassador to the uk continues to deny his country's involvement in the nerve agent attack, and questions britain's role. we have a lot of suspicions about britain, you know. if you take the... let's say, the last ten years. so many russian citizens died here in the uk under very strange circumstances. concern over the capital's growing murder rate as two more men die in separate attacks in east london. also ahead in the next hour, a bbc investigation finds cladding used at grenfell tower fell short of its claimed safety standard in fire tests. it also found a uk body that grades building

materials wasn't informed. staff at the open university call for the immediate resignation their vice chancellor, peter horrocks, with a vote of no confidence. one of india's most successful film stars has been jailed for five years for killing a rare antelope species. on meet the author this week, my guest is francisco cantu, a third—generation mexican—american who became a us border patrol agent and tells, in his book, the line becomes a river a lyrical story of life in a dangerous no man's land that is also a political battle ground. good evening and welcome to bbc news. yulia skripal, one of the victims of the salisbury poisoning, has made herfirst public statement, a month after the attack

on her and her father. she said she's been conscious for over a week and that her strength is growing every day. she thanked medical staff and the people of salisbury for their help, and described her ordeal as "somewhat disorientating." the attack with a nerve agent on yulia and sergei skripal has sparked an international diplomatic crisis, and the recrimination between russia and the west intensified again today. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. it's just over four weeks since sergei and yulia skripal were poisoned by a nerve agent on this bench in salisbury, four weeks during which the former russian intelligence officer and his 33—year—old daughter have lain critically ill, at times in a coma. but today, ms skripal revealed that she at least was on the mend. in a statement issued on her behalf by the police, she said: she thanked the staff

of salisbury district hospital for their care and added: earlier, russian television broadcast an unverified recording of an alleged phone call between yulia skripal and her cousin, viktoria, in which ms skripal reportedly claimed that everyone‘s health was ok, with no irreversible harm, and that she would be discharged soon. in london, the russian ambassador used a news conference, once again, to deny his country's involvement in the attack on ms skripal, and welcomed the news she was recovering. i'm really happy, and i hope that sergei skripal will also recover. and i'm quite sure that one day she will come back to moscow.

today, the foreign office said ms skripal had been told about the russian embassy's offer of consular assistance but had yet to take up the offer. that didn't stop the ambassador, again, protesting at his lack of access. today, scotland yard and the british government is refusing to communicate with us. no answer. the telephones are switched off. that's the problem for us. one month on from the attack on the skripals, the russian defiance continues. at an extraordinary news conference, here at the russian embassy, for almost two hours, the russian ambassador denied that russia was involved in the salisbury attack, denied that they ever even made novichok nerve agent and denied that russia was internationally isolated. and tonight, russia will step up that defiance at the united nations, calling a meeting of the security council to challenge the accusations laid at its door. james landale, bbc news. let's ta ke

let's take a look at what is happening at the united nations as jamesjust mentioned happening at the united nations as james just mentioned the security council convening this evening. this was at moscow's request. they want to discuss the british accusations around the salisbury attack. russia continuing to deny it had any involvement in the use of a nerve agent on yulia skripal and her father. britain's envoy to the un saying london fears it will be another step in russia's pattern of obfuscation and contempt for international institutions. but the deputy un ambassador of russia said those who spread lies about alleged russian involvement in the poisoning must understand that such irresponsible behaviour has its price. we will wait and see how those proceedings turned out. he will keep an eye on the un security council in new york and go back and

listen in when we can. two teenagers have been arrested after an 18 year—old man was stabbed to death in east london last night. a 53—year—old man also died at a bookmakers in london, following reports of an assault. it brings the total number of killings in the capital to more than 50 so far this year. the government says it's looking at new laws to deal with offensive and dangerous weapons. our community affairs correspondent, adina campbell, reports. the latest victim of violent crime in london — 18—year—old israel ogunsola died last night after being stabbed in hackney. this is where his body was found. another white tent with a police cordon, another stark reminder of this week's violence in the capital. and just a couple of miles away, a man in his 50s also died last night after being assaulted. wake up, man. this stuff needs to end, seriously. like, i'm coming from someone who's actually felt that kind of pain. 23—year—old yolanda has posted

this video on facebook. she personally knew some of this week's victims and has lost family and friends through violence, over the last ten years. seeing that there's so much deaths this year alone, itjust got me annoyed, ijust had to rant out as well. it doesn't just affect our generation, it's affecting everyone involved. meanwhile, mother of two deana, who lived in london for more than two decades, has recently moved away from the capital. sometimes, i feel scared to be out on road at certain times of day. there has been something going around on social media where it's a points system, now, so you don't have to be affiliated with that person who would want to shoot you, stab you, rob you. it's just a points system for them, so it could be anybody. they've put the cameras in at love lane. and the mp for tottenham,

david lammy, says he has also had enough. he has been meeting concerned constituents in his community, where 17—year—old tanesha melbourne was killed in a drive—by shooting on monday. it's just heartbreaking. people are frightened now, frightened for their children to walk the streets. i've not seen the home secretary, i've not seen the mayor. it's unacceptable. why is life in my constituency worth less than lives in other parts of the country? if four young people had died in a leafy shire, they would be all over it. but action is being promised by those in charge. we have announced today the violent crime task force, 120 officers working across london to grapple with the issue of gun crime and knife crime. i plead with anybody who has any information at all to please ring. more than 50 people have been killed in london, this year, and some people fear things could get worse before they get better.

while politicians and the police have been trying to explain the reasons for the rise in knife and gun deaths in london, one part of the uk which appears to have got to grips with the crime is scotland. the homicide rate there has dropped by 47 % over the last ten years. and there have been no fatal stabbings of teenagers and young people in glasgow between 2011 and 2016. we can speak now to will linden from the scottish violence reduction unit. he joins us live from glasgow. thank you very much forjoining us. first of all, tell us why your unit was set up and what it aims to do? after the annual title of the capital of western europe where glasgow was, glasgow was synonymous with knife crime and knife violence. in 2005 there were record amounts.

we were set up after basically looked at the problem and realised that despite policing's best efforts they were arresting people, and detecting crime, putting people in prison, the problem was not getting any better. what we decided to do was look at the causes of the violence, and not the symptoms but actually what was driving the violence. what we found out it was things like lack of social mobility, poor education, poor mental health. it was everything. there were so many issues behind it, but importantly it was not something that the police could deal with by themselves. this was about engaging with the health services, about engaging with social work, with the communities, with individuals including those involved with violence and the victims of violence and listening to them and listening to what their solutions were. and yet you did draw on best practice from other police forces. tell us what that best practice was. best

practices across the world are what we drew from. we looked at the boston cease—fire project, bringing that into glasgow which was essentially tackling gang violence. we looked at programmes from scandinavia, we have looked at programmes in australia. the boston cease—fire one was particularly successful in looking at our gangs issue because what we did with our gangsis issue because what we did with our gangs is we did not look of the problem of the game itself. we looked at the problem of their behaviour and trying to address the violence behind it and i was about giving them the opportunity and chanceis giving them the opportunity and chance is to get out of the gang and supporting them, but at the same timei supporting them, but at the same time i think assessing the gang violence we needed to deal with that. but as you say there was a carrot and stick, but you also let them see for themselves what their own behaviour looked like. yes. that

was... we had a day basically in a courtroom where we had 200 gang members, and we set it up, almost being described as a piece of theatre, and we showed them cctv footage, we showed them pictures of surveillance, intelligence box and charts to show them we knew where we live and what they were up to and that was to let them know that we knew everything about them. he knew all about their lives, so there was no hiding from this and we would ta ke no hiding from this and we would take stern action, but at the same time it was also we brought mother is in the have lost their children through gang violence and violence in their given the message about what it meant to them and how much it hurt them. the young men who were there could relate to that because they could all relate to their mothers. and we also brought in services and doctors and we brought in people to offer them hope and offer them a way out. it was not just about showing them the pictures, that was only one small pa rt pictures, that was only one small part of it, but it was almost taking

them on an emotionaljourney of saying this is what can happen, this is what we know. if you choose violence we've will have no choice but to police you because we have to protect and make our community safer, but at the same time it features a way out of this and many of the young people did, we must be there to help and support you —— if you choose a way out of this. the numbers of fatalities, of young people and children in particular in the five years before 2011 and the five years after, quite remarkable. what we have seen in scotland and glasgow in particular, as i say at the beginning we were a nice capital of western europe. that was predominately driven by young people. we set about math education across all of our schools, across our youth clubs, we had advertising, targeting buses, bus stops, cinemas and it was like an onslaught of information, action and change work.

but we have seen over that period of time isa but we have seen over that period of time is a reduction between 17—80% of knife carrying among young people. if you want to reduce violence and homicide you have to reduce the means of it and him taking knifes out of peoples hands and making them make the decision not to carry if they are less likely to be die if they get into a fight. creperie, thank you very much for talking to us tonight. —— will linden. back to the un in new york where that special session of the security council is being called by the russian delegation. they are following the salisbury attack. let's listen in. in the case with the family, the substance used it is highly likely it comes from russia.

if this is very powerful substance was spread in the house of skripal we re was spread in the house of skripal were on his door knob, that seems to be the version that the investigation seems to be pointing to. how could sergei and his daughter have remained in a normal state a few hours following that, given that the sergeant of police, the first individual who helped them immediately lost his consciousness. how were they able to survive after all of this? the only explanation is that in antidote was immediately introduced into them. to do this, according to the unanimous view of experts, the sample of an exact same substance, not a similar substance, but the exact identical substance had to be present somewhere nearby.

several kilometres from the scene of the crime, a british research centre well—known for its development chemical weapons, there are a lot of questions we have about the activity of the centre. however, this is what is interesting. the head of the laboratory in porton downs stated on tuesday that his laboratory has determined that this was a toxic nerve substance, but it could not confirm its origin. that was a quote. furthermore, he said that no antidotes were introduced into the skripalfamily. he antidotes were introduced into the skripal family. he assumed that the british government, unlike him, may have additional information on this topic. we have to pay tribute to to

him. he did not endanger his professional reputation to service the guesswork or the divergence put forward by the british authorities. at the same time, he assured eve ryo ne at the same time, he assured everyone that nothing of the kind, no substance of the kind could have left the premises of his laboratory will stop so, the question is what was this? that could not leave the premises of the laboratory? and does the opc w know about this substance. no matter what happens, all this means that the main argument of the british side about the unquestionable russian origin of this substance has basically been no longer valid. all of the system of evidence about the highly likely version of the involvement of russia was based on that premise, but that is his statement only adds more

questions into this case before us. once again, we want to state novichok is not copyrighted by russia, in spite of the obviously russian name. it is a name that was invented in the west for a line of toxic substances which is nothing new for experts and scientists. were developed in many countries, including in the us and great britain. borisjohnson, including in the us and great britain. boris johnson, in including in the us and great britain. borisjohnson, in response toa britain. borisjohnson, in response to a direct question, directly confirmed that reprint does have samples of that substance in porton down. yesterday, on the site of british foreign affairs the tweet about the russian origin of the substance was deleted. this already

led to some scandals and some serious talk behind the scenes. however, borisjohnson serious talk behind the scenes. however, boris johnson and serious talk behind the scenes. however, borisjohnson and the british foreign service immediately. extra support and assistance from —— immediately got extra support and assistance from the british foreign services just like chippendale, using the check to leave at times newspaper yesterday stated that they we re newspaper yesterday stated that they were able to on the basis of a scientific analysis and intelligence data determine the probable origin of the substance already a few days after the chemical attack in salisbury. it is stated that on the 7th of march, the cabinet of ministers knew that the chemical substance was produced in russia with a very high degree of probability. the british intelligence service considered that

they have determined the location of they have determined the location of the secret russian laboratory where the secret russian laboratory where the nerve agent was produced. and furthermore, and be very attentive to what i'm about to say, the sources of the british intelligence services cannot speak openly about the location of the laboratory. however, their knowledge of where it is located, their certainty of where it is located is very high. their degree of certainty. they also consider that the russian side conducted test to trip to determine whether novichok could be used for politically motivated murders. or assassinations. there is even more. the daily mail also yesterday revealed that british intelligence services have highly secret information from certain sources

about the fact that russia, it turns out, just before the attack in salisbury, tested the nerve agent novichok on it every day targets —— on everyday targets like a door handle for example or everyday objects. ladies and gentlemen, i don't even know what to say about this. it is some sort of theatre of the absurd. couldn't you come up with a better fake story? we all know the worth british intelligence information based on the experience with tony blair. we have told our british colleagues that you are playing with fire and you will be sorry. because it is one thing to put forward unsubstantiated accusations, and it is quite

different to start speaking using professional terms. which requires not —— means not simply who will speak loudest in diplomacy, but it requires clear answers to very specific substantial questions. i don't think that the british investigative bodies are grateful to the british government for their hasty and unequivocal statements and conclusions. all of this, of course, your politicians never thought about all of this, did they? they had no idea that they're hyped up state m e nts idea that they're hyped up statements might boomerang and hit them. they used a very useful and timely anti—russian canard. the topic, a russian chemical attack, so—called. of course they were not aware that once the dust settles they will held responsible for their

words, and yet london started poisoning our relations with other countries will stop as a sign of solidarity, the number of states that are allies of the uk, some 150 russian diplomats were expelled. we know that your ambassadors around the world are putting pressure on sovereign states and are forcing them to follow this very terrible example. you started a wave that even reached new york. your allies in the united states have undertaken an unprecedented expulsion of 60 russian diplomats, including 12 staff members of the permanent mission of russia with the un. without providing any proof for this, without conducting consultations with us as provided for in the agreement on the present

at headquarters and hence they clearly did not comply with all of the provisions of the headquarters agreement of the united nations. and lived up to their applications. —— obligations. by the way it is not the person they have not lived to obligations in this area. —— it is not the first time they have not lived up to obligations. although, the united states forced russia to give a big diplomatic property. —— to give up its diplomatic property. the united states seized from russia diplomatic property that belonged to, including russian property here in the permanent mission at the

united nations in new york. they established a 25 mile zone for our diplomats, a restricted zone. they are not extending and they're not issuing them american visas. we call on the united states to be responsible, these are their responsibilities as a host country and to return everything they have illegitimately took the taken from us. illegitimately took the taken from us. and refrain from similar steps in the future. mr president, we are witnessing truly remarkable events. this new approach in law, i already mentioned this where you have accusations without any proof. i mentioned this at the meeting on the 14th of march simply on the basis of

suspicions. however, no less surprising if something else. when i look at the debates, interviews and state m e nts look at the debates, interviews and statements of british politicians, i am simply stunned. what happened to good old england? is this a lack of professionalism or a deterioration of political culture? or is this exactly the kind of new political culture we are seeing? i really don't have an answer. i perhaps will allow those present here to draw their own conclusions. the british authorities are trying to almost make fun of russia by providing some 30 versions of what has happened. these are not versions of the —— provided by the russian authorities, these are opinions by experts and

journalists. it is true that there are many versions because there's not enough facts or evidence, whereas in russia everyone wants to get to the bottom of this dark story. but, the british authorities in fact don't have a lot of versions, rather they have just one version. and in which they have put forward as a verdict in a trial. and they cannot determine or come to grips with what the source of the toxic substance is. is it the house of skripal? the door knob? flowers? buckwheat grain? we have to acknowledge that the citizens and experts from great britain in from other countries, those who are capable of thinking, also have come up capable of thinking, also have come up with a whole range of different

versions, and there are many questions to which they do not have a nswe rs. questions to which they do not have answers. here are just a few of the questions. where was the skripal family forfour questions. where was the skripal family for four hours when their telephones switched off? how are the samples taken? —— how were the samples taken? —— how were the samples taken? —— how were the samples ta ken? who samples taken? —— how were the samples taken? who can confirm their reliability? why weren't relatives asked for their approval to take blood samples? how did the antidote, againstan blood samples? how did the antidote, against an unknown chemical substance appear so quickly? and was it injected into the skripal family? what would skripal doing? —— what was skripal doing? who was heat medicating with? where did he go? who was he travelling with? who you talking to? to be meet with anyone on the date of the event or the day

before? where is the data from the video surveillance cameras? how are these accusations put forward in haste, how do they correspond or gel with the statements by the scotland ya rd with the statements by the scotland yard that they would require several weeks or maybe months of investigative work? why is russia not been given consular access to russian citizens against whom on the territory of great britain they possibly —— a possible terrorist act was carried out? the british authorities decided quickly that their insinuations without evidence will not cost them at all, believe me, my friends, this story and this investigation is far from me, my friends, this story and this investigation is farfrom being over. in fact, investigation is farfrom being over. infact, it investigation is farfrom being over. in fact, it has not even begun. on the 12th of march, when we

said to the foreign office a note with a request to provide us access to the data from the investigation, including samples of a chemical substance of the british investigation referring to, for our experts to examine in the framework ofa experts to examine in the framework of a joint investigation. this way, we we re of a joint investigation. this way, we were acting in the framework of article two of —— paragraph two of article two of —— paragraph two of article nine on the convention of chemical weapons. according to that convention member states can on the basis of exchange in information and consultation on a bilateral basis resolve a ny consultation on a bilateral basis resolve any issue that could cause any doubt regarding the compliance with this treaty. based on the provisions of that article russia would be body to respond to great britain within ten days. instead of all this, london

put forward a completely absurd 24—hour ultimatum. obviously, we rejected it. no one, in under no circumstances, can talk in this way using this tone with russia. this ultimatum, which was transmitted to borisjohnson orally ultimatum, which was transmitted to boris johnson orally to ultimatum, which was transmitted to borisjohnson orally to the russian ambassador in london, the foreign secretary made clear... there are only two possible scenarios. either the russian state has attempted murder on british soil using a chemical weapon or russia was stockpiling a nerve agent. the foreign secretary asked the russian ambassador to explain which of the two possibilities was true. an attempt to account for how this russian produced nerve agent would have been deployed in salisbury. hours we were given. translation: that is the whole range of questions that the british side put to us. there were no other

questions. so, looking from it, based on today and based on the additional information and statements we have had since then, the questions in that ultimatum seem even more absurd. on the 14th of march, mrs may sent to the director—general of the technical secretary of the proposal to conduct an independent analysis of the results of the british investigation on this incident in salisbury. at the same time our british colleagues forget that acting in the framework of the opcw witch is the only correct way, they not only have rights, but they also have certain obligations, including obligations towards us, as fully fledged members of the organisation. and we have clearly reminded them of that, during the special meeting of the executive council of the opcw that was convened yesterday at our request.

we proposed a draft decision on a joint investigation. it was blocked by the united kingdom and its allies. they immediately considered it a victory. although the number of those voting for and abstained... in fa ct those voting for and abstained... in fact exceeded the number of those that voted against. this is quite understandable. why does great britain need a joint investigation if they have already established who is guilty before even beginning the investigation? this kind of investigation? this kind of investigation might destroy their clear version, based on such powerful arguments and words as highly likely, overwhelmingly likely, highly plausible, there is almost no doubt, there is no other plausible explanation, russia was almost certainly to blame, high likelihood of russian responsibility, russia is the likely perpetrator... borisjohnson continues to convince

eve ryo ne borisjohnson continues to convince everyone on the british side supposedly sent russia a list of questions to which it still hasn't received any answers. and everything, in fact, received any answers. and everything, infact, is received any answers. and everything, in fact, is completely the opposite. as i said, we never received any list of questions. and i turned to the british side. if you have such a list of questions, please tell us, please list those questions. but please don't consider accusations in the form of an ultimatum and demand to acknowledge and to own up to being guilty as a list of questions. we, on the other hand, do have a lot of questions, both to london, the opcw and also to france, which, all ofa opcw and also to france, which, all of a sudden, for no reason, based on what provisions of the convention, immediately rushed to assist the

british side in confirming the results of the british so—called express investigation. in response to our request, the french side stated that great britain provided detailed information to france about its investigation. well, since london refuses to provide us information, maybe paris could share that information with us. today, we have circulated a note that you could... take a look at. we also will circulate a number of comments of the official representative of the foreign ministry of russia that contains some very interesting information. i think it will be very interesting for you to... get acquainted with it. and we will provide this statement with a translation to you as well, mr president. the level of intellectual justification of the accusations put

forward against russia is absurd. it's impossible to even smile when reading this. borisjohnson, who constantly claims he isa borisjohnson, who constantly claims he is a ruzza file —— he is a rusifile stated something absurd. and immoral premise that the incident was needed, necessary for moscow to bring people togetherjust before the elections. just as immoral as his comparison of the russian world cup with the olympic games in berlin in 1936. which, unlike the soviet union, by the way, unlike the soviet union, by the way, unlike the soviet union, by the way, unlike the soviet union, had a very large delegation from great britain. including with dignitaries present there. borisjohnson referred to the

novel of dostoevsky, crime and punishment, where the whole intrigue is supposedly whether the criminal will confess by himself or whether he will be caught. the novel is not really about that. it's not a crime novel, as the british minister thinks. but, rather, a deep, philosophical work of literature. by the way, we have already mentioned the way, we have already mentioned the british... proverb from the novel about 100 rabbits that will never become a horse, no matter how much you try. i would suggest that mrjohnson perhaps the reader some other novels by dostoevsky or at least get to know their names. i'm not going to give you a list of those names of those novels. as a so—called argument evidence of the guilt of

russia, the british ambassador in moscow demonstrated to his collea g u es moscow demonstrated to his colleagues this six page slide show including the title page. these comics are provided in view of evidence. once again, they contain nothing but a statements like "highly likely". we can imagine that this slam dunk document was provided by mrs may to her european union colleagues. many of whom, many of whom, unfortunately, not all. they took this as... evidence, reliable evidence, against russia. look at this. it is a complete... it's an absolute travesty. we will circulate this to you. the polemics about these six pages, i mean, it's an insult to your intelligence. what sort of lack of respect do you have

for people who you are trying to convince using this as evidence? and those who you are supposedly trying to convince, don't they understand that they are simply the targets of this kind of manipulation and they are taking part in a collective psychosis? the statements by boris johnson about a dead cat on the table... that is simply a way of distracting from other manoeuvres. if you want to, you can listen to his interview, if you want to know exactly what he was saying. these are excellent exactly what he was saying. these a re excellent exa m ples exactly what he was saying. these are excellent examples of the propaganda war that is being waged. without any rules, without respect for rules, a kind of propaganda war being waged against russia. by the way, since i mentioned dead cats, in the house of sergei skripal in salisbury, which were supposedly contaminated, according to the words of his niece, viktoria there would

two cats and two guinea pigs —— there were. where are they now? what happened to these animals? why doesn't anyone mentioned them? their condition is also an important piece of evidence. mr president, we live ina time of evidence. mr president, we live in a time of a collective loss of intellectual clarity. what kind of psychotropic substances are used to manipulate the public, i don't know. except for one substance, means, rather, that is the media. this is the terrible weapon of our time. using the media, it is easy to manipulate human consciousness. and we are witnessing is how the western media is very successful at doing this. at the same time, we don't need any kind of highly intellectually sophisticated methods. it's enough to regularly and keep

repeating the same lies, without any evidence, and to... until people start to believe it. this is all using the method of doctor goebbels. lies repeated a thousand times become the truth. we will demand answers from new to the questions we have put. and if you don't provide answers... if you don't agree to answers, we will... we will then consider this as evidence of slander, which you have... used against us. we will seek to obtain fully fledged cooperation from you, regarding the case of sergei skripal. if you refuse, we will consider it as an attempt to consider the truth. mr

president, everything that is taking place, i think, president, everything that is taking place, ithink, confirmed president, everything that is taking place, i think, confirmed to us that what was clear from the very beginning... that this is a coordinated, very well—prepared campaign, in advance. prepared in advance. it is not by chance. the main goal is clear: it is to discredit and delegitimise russia. to accuse it in the use of a horrible, inhumane weapon. in concealing arsenals of this substance. of being in breach of the convention on chemical weapons. to put in question its role not only in finding a solution to syria, but anywhere else. the idea is to put in question the political legitimacy of russia in principle. at the same time, to discredit our position on the syrian chemical dossier. basically, the

idea is to kill two birds with one stone. since the british authorities dare to state that behind the incident in salisbury, it's russia's responsibility with "a high degree of probability", well, we, also, with a high degree of probability are assuming that the intelligence services of certain countries are behind this mega— provocation. russia, which has no connection to the poisoning of sergei skripal and his daughter, is more than anyone interested in determining the truth. we will work hard to establish the truth, based on the provisions of the chemical convention. if the british side will continue to use suspicions and claim that these are evidence... if it will continue to

base itself on assumptions, rather than facts, this will only confirm our assumption which is quite likely, more than likely, that is that all this very questionable case isa that all this very questionable case is a fabrication or rather, the worst form of provocation. he who has ears to hear, let him hear. you see, the only way of obtaining an objective truth by strictly complying with the mechanisms of the chemical weapons convention and cooperating in an investigation, we also await answers to the very clear questions from the british criminal investigation. we demand consumer access to yulia skripal. summing up, this is what the situation is. the origin of the substance in russia is not confirmed. even before that, we

stated that we had nothing to do with it. however, we seem to be... people are demanding that we acknowledge our guilt. now, great britain refuses to cooperate with us on the pretext that the victim cannot co—operate with the criminal. well, i'm really sorry, your appointment with the criminal. well, i'm really sony, your appointment of with the criminal. well, i'm really sorry, your appointment of us as criminal, without facts, without evidence, without a trial or investigation are now and void. a crime was committed on british territory and possibly a terrorist act against our citizens. and they happen to be the victims. this is why we are entitled to demand cooperation. and great britain is