Russia responsible for nerve agent attack on spy in UK: Tillerson

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says Russia must be held responsible for the recent nerve agent attack that nearly killed a former spy in the UK.

Tillerson told his British counterpart Boris Johnson over the phone on Monday that Washington agreed with London that Russian agents had indeed tried to kill former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury.

"We have full confidence in the UK's investigation and its assessment that Russia was likely responsible for the nerve agent attack that took place in Salisbury last week," Tillerson said, according to a statement by the US State Department.

"There is never a justification for this type of attack -- the attempted murder of a private citizen on the soil of a sovereign nation -- and we are outraged that Russia appears to have again engaged in such behavior,” Tillerson added.

He acknowledged the need for more investigation but said the nerve agent used in the attack was “distinctive” and that was enough reason to believe that the attack "clearly came from Russia."

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PressTV-Russia: UK claims on ex-spy 'circus show'

The Russian Foreign Ministry dismisses as a 'circus show' Britain's claim that Moscow was responsible for poisoning ex-spy Sergei Skripal.

He called for "appropriately serious consequences" for "both those who committed the crime and those who ordered it."

Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter were hospitalized after have been hospitalized since they were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center earlier this month.

Speaking to BBC Radio on Monday, the chair of the UK's Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat said the attack was "looking awfully like it was state-sponsored attempted murder."

British police on Wednesday attributed the critical illness of the two to a nerve agent that British media claim only governments could have possessed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that London should "get to the bottom" of the attack in its investigations before making any claims.

Getting ahead of White House

Tillerson’s statements were probably stronger than what the Trump administration would have preferred.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said earlier that the attack was "reckless, indiscriminate and irresponsible" but did not go as far as openly pinning the blame on the Kremlin.

Pressed on whether she thought Moscow was behind that attack she refused to give a direct a response and only said, “Right now, we are standing with our UK ally."

Russia has firmly denied any involvement in the attack, dismissing the allegations as a circus show.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Skripal worked for British intelligence agencies and was attacked in Britain, therefore he "is in no way an issue for Russia."

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