Putin called Skripal "just a scum and a traitor"

The President noted that the scandal over the incident in Salisbury is being artificially inflated, and added that the war between the special services has been going on for a long time.
“Some information sources are pushing the idea that Mr. Skripal is almost a human rights activist,” Putin said, answering a question about anti-Russian sanctions and the “Skripl case”. “He’s just a spy, a traitor to the Motherland.” “He’s just a scumbag, that's all,” the president added. According to him, so are traitors in any country.
According to the president, this scandal is artificially inflated. “A whole information campaign was launched around this,” he stated. “I think it will pass someday. I hope that it will end, and the sooner it will end, the better.” The head of state recalled Moscow’s proposals for a joint investigation of the incident in Salisbury, including within the framework of an agreement on assistance in criminal matters with the UK.
“And the romp between the special services is what was born yesterday or what?” Putin added. “As is well known, espionage, like prostitution, is one of the most important professions in the world. Nobody has closed it and is not able to close it yet.”
Putin considers the version of the British side about the circumstances of the Salisbury case to be nonsense, stressing that "no one needs" was to persecute Sergey Skripal and other residents of Great Britain.

"You want to say that we still poisoned some kind of homeless person there?" - the president commented on the words of the moderator of the plenary, who mentioned that there are other victims from the same nerve gas that was allegedly used in the attempt on Skripale. "I sometimes look at what is going on around this case, I just wonder: some guys came and started to poison the homeless people there in the UK. What kind of nonsense? Do they work in cleaning up, no?" - Putin added.
“Nobody needs (there was anybody) to persecute. This Scripal, he is a traitor, as I said, he was caught, he was punished, he spent a total of five years in prison, we let him out. That's all. He left, he still cooperated, consulted some special services, so what? " - stressed the President of the Russian Federation.
He expressed surprise that the moderator of the energy forum raised this topic. "We are talking about you now - about oil, gas or espionage?" - Putin addressed the presenter and suggested jokingly: "Let's move on to another ancient profession, discuss there what is happening in this area of ​​business."