Russian accused by London over spy poisoning may speak next week

One of the Russians named by Britain as a suspect in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, has said he may comment publicly on the case next week, a Russian state television station said on Wednesday.

British prosecutors last week identified two Russians who they said were operating under aliases - Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - and who they said had tried to murder the Skripals with a military-grade nerve agent in England.

State television channel Rossiya-24 said it had spoken to Petrov and that he declined to comment on the case for now, saying only that he worked for a pharmaceutical company in the Siberian city of Tomsk.

"No comment for the moment. Maybe later. Next week, I think," he was quoted as saying.