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UK Security Minister Ben Wallace said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "ultimately" responsible for a nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent in England in March.
London has accused two Russian military intelligence members of using Novichok to try to kill former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury town in south-west England.
Asked whether Putin had responsibilities, Wallace said: "In the end, he does so as president of the Russian Federation and it is his government that controls, finances and directs military intelligence. , the Ministry of Defense. "
He told BBC Radio: "I do not think anyone can say that Mr. Putin does not control his state … And the GRU is probably not a thug.
"It is headed, linked to both the top officials of the Russian General Staff and the Minister of Defense, and thereby to the Kremlin and the office of the President."
Britain has already blamed Moscow for the March 4 attack, provoking furious denials.
Subsequently, Britain and its allies expelled dozens of Russian diplomats, prompting Russia to react in this way. The United States has also imposed new sanctions for this attack.
The Skripals survived the poisoning but Novichok remains found in a bottle of perfume were picked up by a local man a few weeks later and given to his girlfriend, Dawn Sturgess, who died later.
British prosecutors said on Wednesday that they had enough evidence to accuse Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov of the plot to assassinate Skripal, attempted murder and use of a banned chemical weapon .
They stated that they would not formally require their extradition because Russia does not extradite its citizens, but has obtained a European arrest warrant for the couple.
Security Minister Ben Wallace told BBC radio: "I do not think anyone can say that Putin does not control his state … And the GRU is probably not a thug . "
London has accused two Russian military intelligence members of having used Novichok to try to kill the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia
