The world's chemical arms watchdog on Thursday confirmed Britain's findings on the identity of a nerve agent used on a former Russian spy, which London has said involved the Soviet-made Novichok. Separately, Russia shortly afterwards said it suspected British authorities of detaining the spy's daughter, who was poisoned with him, following her recent departure from hospital.
Samples tested by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) "confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical", the watchdog said. It made no assessment of who was to blame for the March 4 attack, which also affected Sergei Skripal's daughter Yulia and a local policeman.
But British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said: "There can be no doubt what was used and there remains no alternative explanation about who was responsible. "Only Russia has the means, motive and record."
Russia strongly denies involvement in the attack, which has sparked an international row resulting in the expulsions of diplomats from all sides. Moscow on Thursday said it would not accept the conclusions of the international chemical arms watchdog, unless Russian experts are given access to the samples used.
"There is no information at all about how, from whom, in what conditions these samples were taken. This statement raises questions among Russian experts and, of course, requires additional detailed analysis," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in Moscow.
Moscow fears the UK has forcibly detained Yulia Skripal, she added. "We have every reason to believe this could be a question of the deliberate, forcible detention of a Russian citizen or possibly their coercion into a staged announcement," Zakharova said.
Experts from the OPCW took samples from the three victims during a visit to Britain last month, which were then tested in international laboratories.
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