ONE of the two men suspected of the Salisbury Novichok poisoning has today revealed he will break his silence on the accusations next week.

It comes after Russian president Vladimir Putin today said Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were "civilians" who had nothing to do with the attack that left Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia fighting for life.

The men are believed to be officers of Russia's military intelligence service - the GRU - and are understood to have returned to Russia.

State TV channel Rossiya-24 reported it had spoken with Petrov, who declined to speak except to claim he worked for a pharmaceutical company in the Siberian city of Tomsk.

He added: "No comment for the moment. Maybe later. Next week, I think."

But Putin insists they are simply "civilians" and encouraged them to come forward and tell their story.

He added: "We have checked what kind of people they are... I hope they will turn up themselves and tell everything. There is nothing criminal in it."

Putin's comments set him up for yet another showdown with the West after countries - including the US - backed Theresa May's statement that Petrov and Boshirov were assassins sent by the Russian state.

In an escalating war of words, Russia claims the moves are to prepare the British public for aggressive measures against its country.

“The impression grows that the British public is being prepared for aggressive actions against Russia disguised as "defensive measures", with eventual consequences impossible to predict,” said the Kremlin’s embassy in London.

Russian diplomats said: "We urge the British authorities to abandon such hostile rhetoric, and be guided by international law and common sense.”

The embassy noted a series of official statements made lately to the effect that the UK should use its "massive retaliatory capabilities" to counter Russia’s “aggression”.

"It is worth recalling that Russia has made several proposals to the United Kingdom on different levels to establish cooperation both over the Salisbury incident," it said.

Petrov and Boshirov were named by Scotland Yard earlier this month as the two suspects behind the Novichok attack in March.

European Arrest Warrants were issued for the pair and cops said they were suspected to be travelling under aliases.

In a bizarre twist Russian state media claimed that Alexander Petrov previously ran a failed lingerie company near the Ukrainian city of Odessa.

Russian news outlet RT contacted his former business partner in Odessa, Sergey Prudnikov, who “did not say anything good about his companion”.

The Muscovite left his business roughly £13,640 in debt, he claimed.

The statements have spawned theories his identity was stolen by whoever carried out the attack in Salisbury.

Petrov, who reportedly works at a secretive Siberian plant that produces smallpox vaccine, has already denied he is a GRU spy.

Putin appears to be playing from his own well-worn playbook, with a very similar reaction displayed following the assassination of Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

Nine years after the assassination, which used radioactive polonium, a report by Sir Robert Owen into the death named Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun as the perpetrators.

The report was rubbished by Russian State media, who branded it a fabrication, politicised and not transparent - all of this parroted the official line put out by the Kremlin.

Putin later rubbed salt into the wound, awarding Lugovoi a medal for "services to the motherland".

In the recent attack the Skripals were saved by British doctors - with Yulia making a full recovery just weeks later.

She vowed to return to Russia, but her ex-spook dad is still receiving treatment for the “extremely painful” ordeal.

The same deadly nerve agent was also said to be responsible for the killing of mum-of-three Dawn Sturgess in nearby Amesbury, in June.

Her boyfriend Charlie Rowley picked up the fake Nina Ricci ‘Premier Jour’ perfume used to poison the Skripals on March 4.

A chilling timeline revealed the men arrived in the UK on March 2 before making their way to the £48-a-night City Stay Hotel in Bow, East London.

They stayed there for two nights and then went to Salisbury for reconnaissance.

CCTV footage shows the pair - who are believed to be in the 40s - smiling as they stroll through the city on the day of the Skripal attack.

They were filmed "moments before" the botched hit on March 4 and left the country hours later in a flight out of Heathrow, cops said.

Officers searching their room on May 4 - almost two months after the attack in Salisbury - are said to have discovered minute traces of Novichok.

Police said Novichok was brought into Britain in a Nina Ricci ‘Premier Jour’ perfume bottle with a specially made poison applicator.

Speaking after Prime Minister's Questions, Theresa May told the Commons the suspects were members of the Russian Military Intelligence Service and were not carrying out a "rogue operation".

Police said they would not be seeking extradition for the pair, but Interpol Red Notices - which alerts all member countries that suspects are wanted - were issued.

In a joint statement with Scotland Yard, the CPS said: "There is sufficient evidence to charge two Russian nationals named as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov with offences including conspiracy to murder over the Salisbury nerve agent attack."

Russia has denied any involvement in the attack on former Soviet spy Sergei - with the Russian foreign ministry laughing off the poisoning storm.

Their official Twitter account tweeted a split-screen video showing Mrs May's robot dance set against a blonde woman dancing traditional Russian moves.

Accompanying the video was the message: "Choose your dance style in international relationship."