Russia: UK treatment in ex-spy case 'barbaric'

MOSCOW – The Russian Foreign Ministry is asking Britain to explain why it has blamed Moscow before the conclusion of an investigation into an ex-spy's poisoning.

The ministry described London's treatment of the March 4 poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury as "barbaric" and challenged Britain to explain why it immediately accused Moscow while investigators say the probe will take weeks.

The ministry also inquired if Britain had a sample of the nerve agent to conclude that Russia was behind the poisoning. It asked how London could explain the slow action of a supposedly immediately lethal agent.

It also asked Wednesday whether the procedure of taking samples complied with the demands of the international chemical weapons watchdog that will analyze them.