Washington, May 11 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have offered their assistance in tackling the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Department of State has said.

"Regarding the Deep Water Horizon oil spill... we received two additional offers of assistance which we are grateful for from the United Arab Emirates and Russia," Philip Crowley, the department's assistant secretary, said at a daily press briefing in Washington Monday.

He did not say, however, whether the US would accept the assistance or not. So far, the UN and 13 countries have offered their help in the Gulf of Mexico.

An explosion April 20 which caused the oil spill ripped through the Deepwater Horizon, around 80 km off the Louisiana coast. The blast claimed the lives of 11 people working on the rig and injured 17. The rig sunk two days later, with oil continuing to spill out into the sea.

The accident is posing a major threat to the flora and fauna of the Gulf of Mexico, which has over 4,000 drilling platforms.