Russia’s ambassador to the UK has rejected allegations that his country’s intelligence services tried to steal coronavirus vaccine research.<\/p>\n
“I don’t believe in this story at all, there is no sense in it,” Andrei Kelin told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.<\/p>\n
However, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it is “very clear Russia did this”, adding that it is important to call out this “pariah-type behaviour”.<\/p>\n
Mr Kelin also rejected suggestions that Russia had interfered in UK politics.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Mr Raab said Russians almost certainly sought to interfere in the 2019 UK election through illicitly-acquired documents.<\/p>\n
The papers, which emerged online, detailed UK-US trade discussions and were used by Labour in its election campaign.<\/p>\n
“I do not see any point in using this subject as a matter of interference,” Mr Kelin said.<\/p>\n
“We do not interfere at all. We do not see any point in interference because for us, whether it will be [the] Conservative Party or Labour’s party at the head of this country, we will try to settle relations and to establish better relations than now.”<\/p>\n
The interview comes days before a report into allegations of wider Russian interference into UK democracy is due to be published by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee.<\/p>\n
Source: BBC News<\/p>\n