"Even though many points in this case are yet to be clarified, I personally believe that the Russian government is not to blame for it," former Slovakian Foreign Intelligence chief Igor Cibula emphasized.
He said that he shares the view of Yaakov Kedmi, former head of the Israeli intelligence service, who said that "British politicians have been so degraded since [former UK Prime Minister Winston] Churchill being in office that they only focus on internal political goals rather than think about the state policy."
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When asked to comment on British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn blaming local mafia, not the Russian government, for poisoning the Skripals, Cibula described the leader of the UK Labor Party as "an old Russophile," which he said justifies Corbyn's "restraint related to the matter."
"There are many speculative versions, but none of them is based on facts," Cibula stressed, expressing regret that "the British government, instead of judiciously evaluating the Skripal case, uses it as an instrument of anti-Russian propaganda."
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"It suits British politicians because [UK Prime Minister Theresa] May's Cabinet does not know what to do about Brexit. This is why the Prime Minister speaks of the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter, seeking to distract public attention from the problems pertaining to the withdrawal of Britain from the EU," Cibula concluded.
Moscow also pledged to respond in kind to the recent expulsions of more than 100 Russian diplomats from about 20 European countries, as well as the US and several other UK allies in the wake of the Skripals' poisoning.
The views and opinions expressed by Igor Cibula are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.