Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (C)
The Kremlin said on Thursday it had offered Britain its assistance in investigating a nerve agent attack on a Russian former spy and his daughter in Salisbury in March long ago, but had been rebuffed.
The Kremlin was commenting on remarks by British Security Minister Ben Wallace who earlier on Thursday called on Moscow to give details about the original Novichok nerve agent attack after two British citizens were struck down with the same poison.
Moscow denies any involvement in the original attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia and has cast allegations of Russian involvement as part of a sophisticated plot to damage its reputation and hosting of the soccer World Cup.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia had long been ready to help Britain get to the bottom of what really happened to the Skripals but complained it had been ignored.
Britain is foolish if it believes Russia staged a new nerve agent attack in England in the middle of the soccer World Cup, Russia's embassy to the Netherlands wrote on social media on Thursday.The embassy was commenting after two Britons fell critically ill after what is thought to be a chance encounter with the poison after an attack on former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March.The British authorities have not accused Russia of involvement in the new incident, saying their working assumption is that the Britons were poisoned by traces of nerve agent left over from the original attack. "How dumb (do) they think (Russia) is to use 'again' so-called 'Novichok' in the middle of the FIFA World Cup...The show must go on?," Russia's embassy to the Netherlands wrote on Twitter on Thursday.UK calls on Russia to give details after new Novichok poisoningRussia denies any involvement in the original attack.Separately, Sergei Zheleznyak, deputy speaker of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, told state TV that the new poisoning incident in Britain looked like an attempt to spoil England soccer fans' positive perception of Russia.Russia is hosting the tournament, which ends on July 15, for the first time.Zheleznyak said Britain needed to whip up an hysteria to distract attention from what its intelligence services were doing. 
Britain 'dumb' if it thinks Russia would stage nerve attack during World Cup: Russia
"To my shame I don't know who Ben Wallace is," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call when asked about the British minister's call for Russian help.
"(But) the minister knows very well that Russia proposed a joint investigation long ago and that this proposal was on the agenda. It was made long ago and unfortunately the British side is not showing any interest in such proposals."
Peskov said the Kremlin was worried by the latest news from Britain and hoped the two Britons in a critical condition would recover.
He said he was unaware of any official British requests to Russia for help in relation to the investigation into the new incident and said the Kremlin was concerned by reports that a nerve agent had once again been used on European soil.
Britain's security minister called on Russia to give details about the Novichok nerve agent attack on a former double agent and his daughter after two British citizens were poisoned with the same substance.The two Britons are critically ill after what is thought to be a chance encounter with the poison after the March attack on former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March.Britain has accused Russia of the poisoning of the Skripals, a charge Russia has repeatedly denied."The Russian state could put this 'wrong' right, they could tell us what happened, what they did and fill in some of the significant gaps that we are trying to pursue," Security Minister Ben Wallace told BBC radio on Thursday."They (Russia) are the ones who could fill in all the clues to keep people safe." UK couple near Salisbury showing similar symptoms to SkripalsBritish police say unknown substance leaves two people critically ill near Salisbury
UK calls on Russia to give details after new Novichok poisoning