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BORIS JOHNSON: Russia has been stockpiling nerve agent used on former spy

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BORIS JOHNSON: Russia has been stockpiling nerve agent used on former spy

Russia has been stockpiling the deadly nerve agent used to poison former spy Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia on British soil, so says foreign minister Boris Johnson.

According to Johnson, Russia used the Soviet-era nerve agent called Novichok on Skripal and his daughter which he said is the first known offensive use of such a weapon on European soil since World War Two.

“We actually have evidence within the last 10 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,” Johnson told the BBC.

Read also: Reconsider travelling to Burkina Faso “due to terrorism”, US tell its citizens

The relationship between London and Moscow has crashed to a post-Cold War low over the attack involving a military-grade nerve agent on English soil.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May expelled 23 Russian diplomats on Friday over the nerve-agent attack on former Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

24-hours later, Russia retaliated by expelling 23 British diplomats in Moscow and also declared them persona non-grata in retaliation to the earlier expulsion by the UK.

The announcement was made by Russia on the eve of a presidential election which is expected to hand Vladimir Putin a fourth term in the Kremlin.

 

 

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