LONDON (AP) -- Russia's foreign minister said Friday that Moscow was willing to help Britain investigate the nerve-agent poisoning of a former spy - but expressed resentment at suggestions Russia was behind the attack.
Sergey Lavrov said "whether it's poisoning of some British subjects, whether it's rumors about interference in the U.S. election campaign, if assistance really is needed, then we are ready to consider its possibility."
"But in order to conduct such cases, it is necessary not to immediately run out on TV screens with unfounded allegations," Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency Tass in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
British investigators are scrambling to trace the nerve agent that has left former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in critical condition.
Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer, was convicted in 2006 of spying for Britain and released in 2010 as part of a spy swap.
He had been living in the quiet English city of Salisbury, where he and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench Sunday. They are in critical but stable condition in a hospital in the city, 140 kilometers southwest of London.
A police officer who treated them at the scene is in serious condition, and a total of 21 people have received medical treatment.
The UK has vowed to take strong action against whoever was responsible for the "brazen and reckless" attack.
British authorities say it's too soon to lay blame, but suspicions have fallen on Russia.
Russian media have mocked suggestions of Moscow involvement in the attack - but also noted that those who betray Russian seem to come to a bad end.