"The evidence points toward Russia on this. Therefore, the responsibility must be borne by those that made the weapon, those that brought the weapon into the country and those that used the weapon … I was extremely definite yesterday that I totally condemn this attack, the perpetrators must be brought to justice, the international chemical weapons convention must be invoked and the source of this weapon, which appears to be Russia – either from the state or the rogue elements of the state – must be brought to justice as a result," Corbyn told reporters.
READ MORE: 'Constellation of Political Actors' Exploiting Skripal Poisoning — Professor
In a Wednesday speech to the House of Commons, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that Moscow was "culpable" for the attempted murder of Skripal. Having condemned the use of the nerve agent, Corbyn said that the UK response should be based on "clear evidence" and called for a dialogue with Russia to establish all the facts. He also asked May about London's steps in cooperation with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), as well as its response to the Russian request to provide Moscow with the samples of the substance used in Salisbury.
The UK authorities are blaming the incident on Moscow and claiming that the former intelligence operative was exposed to a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed in Russia.
Russian officials have denied all accusations. Moscow has expressed readiness to collaborate on the investigation into this case and requested access to the samples of the nerve agent, however, London has denied this request.
READ MORE: Russian Diplomats Receive Threats Over Alleged Skripal's Poisoning — Envoy to UK
In 2006, Skripal was sentenced in Russia to 13 years in prison for cooperating with the UK Secret Intelligence Service MI-6 and transferring names of Russian intelligence agents working undercover in Europe. In 2010, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree pardoning Skripal as part of a US-Russia spy exchange, with the latter then moving to the United Kingdom.
