Russia has been producing nerve agent used in Salisbury spy poisoning for 10 years, Boris Johnson says

Fiona Simpson18 March 2018
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Russia has been developing the nerve agent used to poison a former spy and his daughter in Salisbury for 10 years, Boris Johnson said.

The Foreign Secretary told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show that the UK has evidence of the Kremlin’s decade-long production and stockpiling of Novichok.

It is believed the agent was used to poison 66-year-old Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4.

The pair remain in a critical condition in hospital.

Russian spy poisoning: Military forces work on a van in Winterslow
AP

Mr Johnson told Marr: "We actually have evidence within the last ten years that Russia has not only been investigating the delivery of nerve agents for the purposes of assassination but has also been creating and stockpiling Novichok."

He repeated his condemnation of Russia over the attack and said: "We gave the Russians an opportunity to come up with an alternative hypothesis and they haven’t. Their response has been a sort of smug sarcasm and denial.”

He went on to say that international experts would test evidence from the scene of the poisoning in a bid to ascertain its source.

But, also speaking to Marr, Russia's ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, suggested the nerve agent may have come from the Porton Down laboratory, which is about eight miles from Salisbury.

He said: "When you have a nerve agent or whatever, you check it against certain samples that you retain in your laboratories.

"Porton Down, as we now all know, is the largest military facility in the United Kingdom that has been dealing with chemical weapons research.

Russian Spy Sergei Skripal: Salisbury Nerve Agent Incident

1/14

"It's actually only eight miles from Salisbury."

Asked whether Porton Down was "responsible" for the attack, Mr Chizhov said: "I don't know. I don't have any evidence of anything having been used."

Salisbury MP John Glen, responded to the suggestion by tweeting: "Russia's EU Ambassador's outrageous attempt to smear Porton Down scientists - many of whom are Salisbury residents - is so ludicrous it would be laughable if it wasn't for the dire consequences of his regime's nerve agents."

The comments came as the Russian Embassy in the UK joked that Agatha Christie’s fictional Inspector Poirot should be called in to investigate the incident in Salisbury.

It said in a tweet alongside a picture of the character: “In absence of evidence, we definitely need Poirot in Salisbury!”

Mr Skripal and his daughter remain in a critical condition following the attack.

Theresa May said on Saturday that the UK would work with allies to “consider the next steps against Russia”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in