Moscow rejects UK demands to improve relations after spy attack

Russia has reportedly rejected a British demand that it change its behavior to improve relations, which worsened after an attack on a former Russian spy living in England. 

“No, we won’t change behavior because the only thing that Russia wants is mutually beneficial relations which are based on respect for each other’s interests,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, Bloomberg News reported, citing Russian news services. 

{mosads}The Russian president had previously encouraged the United Kingdom to “turn the page” over the poisoning of agent Sergei Skripal. The U.K. said, however, that relations could not return to normal unless Russia “changes its behavior.”

The United Kingdom blamed Moscow for the attack, which Skripal and his daughter Yulia survived, but that killed a woman named Dawn Sturgess who was exposed to the nerve agent. Russia denied any involvement. 

However, after the incident, the U.K. and its allies expelled Russian diplomats, which resulted in Russia expelling diplomats in turn.