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Russia seeks OPCW’s active role in Salisbury case probe

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that Russia would request an extraordinary session of the OPCW Executive Council

© EPA/EVERT-JAN DANIELS

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/. Russia has convened an extraordinary session of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Executive Council to more fully use the possibilities of this structure as London failed to provide materials on the incident in Salisbury, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"This [convening of the OPCW session] is linked to the situation in Salisbury. Russia seeks an impartial and objective investigation," Peskov said, noting that Moscow rejects the accusations against it in connection with the poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer-turned-British mole Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who is a Russian citizen.

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OPCW begins studying information about Novichok-type nerve agent

"All this certainly gives grounds for active steps in the framework of the only competent international organization on this issue," Peskov stressed.

Russia seeks to "more fully use the possibilities of the organization [OPCW] since unfortunately our country is deprived of a chance to get materials on this case from the country where this incident occurred," he noted.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that Russia was convening an extraordinary session of the OPCW Executive Council in connection with the March 4 incident in Salisbury.

Former Colonel of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate Sergei Skripal, who had been sentenced in Russia for spying for the UK, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent on March 4 and found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, England. Claiming that the substance used in the attack had been a Novichok-class nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, London rushed to accuse Russia of being involved in the incident. Moscow rejected all of the United Kingdom’s accusations, saying that a program aimed at developing such a substance had existed neither in the Soviet Union nor in Russia.

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Foreign policy Dmitry Peskov Skripal poisoning case

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