U.S. "deeply troubled" by findings of inquiry into Litvinenko's death

The United States is "deeply troubled" by the findings of British government's inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy, the State Department said Thursday.

Litvinenko was "deliberately poisoned" and his murder was "probably approved" by Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the report of a British public inquiry released Thursday.

"His murder was a terrible crime and as we've said before, we believe the perpetrator of the crime should be brought to justice," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said at a press briefing.

Toner said the U.S. is evaluating the findings of the report, adding that "these are pretty serious charges obviously."

In response to the British report, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova refuted the allegations, saying that Britain's handling of the case was "opaque" and "politicized."

The process of the British inquiry was "not transparent, neither for the Russian side nor for the public," she added.

Litvinenko died at the age of 43 at a London hotel in 2006, after he was reportedly poisoned with radioactive polonium. He fled to Britain in 2000 before he was granted asylum in 2001 and became a British citizen in October 2006. He had been a fierce critic of the Kremlin and Putin.

On Thursday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the death of Litvinenko could have been "lifted right out of a spy novel," calling it full of "salacious details."

The case shows the "way in which the political environment that currently exists in Russia seems to also extend, at least in some occasions, beyond Russia's borders," Earnest said at a press briefing.

He added that he "certainly wouldn't rule out any relevant future steps" by the U.S. toward Russia over the report. Enditem