Swiss laboratory denies Lavrov's claims that Skripal’s poison was developed by NATO
In response to comments by the Foreign Minister of Russia,The laboratory in the town of Spiez, Switzerland that had contributed to the investigation on the notorious Skripal poisoning incident stated that the BZ toxin was not mentioned in its report.
“Only the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) can comment on this statement. But we can reiterate what we said 10 days ago. We have no doubt that Porton Down was right in identifying Novichok as the poisoning agent,” the Swiss lab posted on Twitter. Both the Spiez laboratory and the Porton Down laboratories are laboratories designated by OPCW.
Earlier, at the meeting of the Council of Foreign and Defense Policy, Lavrov referred to data from the Spiez laboratory regarding the poisoning of the former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. According to the Minister, independent experts from this laboratory found traces of the substance BZ, a chemical weapon in operational use of the USA, Great Britain and NATO countries.
“This laboratory, in which, I am convinced, scientists are professional and value their reputation, reached the following conclusions. I’m going to quote them word for word. As a result of the examination, traces of the toxic chemical BZ and its precursors related to chemical weapons of second category in accordance with the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons were found in the samples,” Lavrov said. He explained that research on the development of this chemical substance was never carried out in either the USSR or in Russia.
According to the UK’s official position, the nerve agent Novichok was used in the attempt on the lives of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. The British government accused Russia of being responsible for the incident. Moscow denies its involvement.