UK Home Secretary Sajid David praised the reception for fans from the United Kingdom at the 2018 World Cup in Russia at a parliament session on Thursday. He marked the difference in the relationship between the United Kingdom and the Russian government and its people.

"On the broader point of UK-Russia relations we have a two speed approach – on the official level there are few if any relations to note and those that exist are shrouded in mistrust. Importantly though we see a change in relations between our peoples – from the World Cup to business and cultural exchange people are building the ties that our governments should be," Cobb said.

Praise of Russia’s welcoming atmosphere at the World Cup comes amid the ongoing UK investigation into an incident in the UK city of Amesbury involving two people, which the UK Metropolitan Police said late on Wednesday were exposed to the Novichok nerve agent, which was developed in the Soviet Union. UK authorities had previously stated that former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia had been poisoned in the UK city of Salisbury by the same substance in March.

Javid, speaking on Thursday, stated that it was unacceptable for UK citizens to be targets of poison attacks, and that if there is confirmation of the involvement of the Russian state in the incident in Amesbury then further action will be taken by the United Kingdom.

Cobb called on politicians to refrain from speculations about the incident until a full investigation is completed.

"What is needed is for the security services, police and health staff the time and space to undertake all investigations and precautions – to make any assumptions right now would be wholly premature, the media, politicians and others need to allow the professionals the space to do their jobs without damaging assumption," Cobb said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia had no information about what substance was used in both incidents and that the Kremlin is unaware of any appeals from London to assist in the Amesbury investigation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Russian law enforcement agencies were ready to cooperate with the United Kingdom over incidents in Amesbury and Salisbury.