Italy To Back Anti-Russia Sanctions If Moscow Proved Guilty In Skripal Affair - Conte

ROME (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) Italy will support sanctions on Russia if the investigation proves its involvement in the March 4 poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the UK city of Salisbury, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.

"As for the Skripal affair, I have been telling [UK Prime Minister Theresa] May from the very beginning that we are waiting for the investigation results. If there is an evidence, those guilty should be brought to justice, and we are prepared to support the United Kingdom in this sanctions process, which it has launched," Conte said at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.

In March, Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury.

The United Kingdom and its allies have accused Moscow of having orchestrated the attack with what UK experts claimed was the A234 nerve agent, without presenting any proof.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in the incident. The Russian Foreign Ministry has sent some 60 diplomatic notes to the UK Foreign Office demanding that Russia be given access to the investigation and the Skripals, who have Russian citizenship, as well as proposing legal assistance and cooperation.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow is concerned over the absence of information on the Skripals' whereabouts and London's refusal to provide consular access to the poisoning victims.