Sajid Javid: UK to consult the allies on the novichok answer | Policy



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Britain will consult with its allies for a possible response to Russia on the latest poisonings of nerve agents in Wiltshire, Interior Minister Sajid Javid said, saying Moscow needs to explain "exactly what happened". Javid, after chairing a meeting of the Cobra government's security meeting Thursday morning, also confirmed that the two people treated at the hospital appeared to have been exposed to Novichok in a separate place from the former Russian spy. Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, four months ago.

"Our strong working hypothesis is that they came into contact with the nerve agent at a different location than the sites that were part of the initial clean-up operation," Javid said. Russia asked Russia to explain how Dawn Sturgess, 44, of Salisbury, and Charlie Rowley, 45, of Amesbury, both of whom are seriously ill, made contact with Novichok before to collapse on Saturday.

Jav id noted that the poisoning of the Skripals, which, according to the United Kingdom, had been led by the Russian state, sparked a strong international response, including the expulsion of Russian diplomats.





  Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury closed



The Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury have closed. Photography: Rick Findler / EPA

He told the Commons: "As we have already done, we will be consulting with our international partners and our allies as a result of these developments." The eyes of the world are currently on Russia, particularly because of The World Cup It is now time for the Russian state to come forward and explain exactly what happened

"Let's be clear: we have no quarrel with the Russian people . On the contrary, it is the actions of the Russian government. "

Javid added," We will resist actions that threaten our security and the safety of our partners. It is unacceptable that our populations are deliberate or accidental targets, or that our streets, our parks, our cities are places of poison.

Novichok refers to a group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s to escape international restrictions on chemical weapons. Like other neurotoxic agents, they are organophosphorus compounds, but the chemicals used to manufacture them and their final structures are considered classified in the United Kingdom, the United States and in other countries.

The most potent novichok substances are considered more deadly than VX, the deadliest familiar neurological agents, which include sarin, tabun and soman.

While novichok agents function in the same way, massively stimulating muscles and glands, a chemical weapons expert stated that the agents did not degrade rapidly in the environment and had additional toxicity that was not well understood. The treatment for novichok exposure would be the same as for other nerve agents, namely atropine, diazepam and potentially the drugs called oximes.

The chemical structures of novichok agents were made public in 2008 by Vil Mirzayanov, a former Russian scientist living in United States, but the structures have never been publicly confirmed. It is thought that they can be made in various forms, including in the form of dusty aerosols

Novichoks are known as binary agents because they only become lethal after mixing two components otherwise. harmless. According to Mirzayanov, they are 10 to 100 times more toxic than conventional neurotoxic agents.

While the laboratories used for police chemical weapons incidents have databases on nerve agents, few Russians would have complete details about novichok compounds. the chemicals needed to make them.


Photography: Matt Cardy / Getty Images Europe

Javid stated that he was aware that the Wiltshire public "felt very anxious" about the new intoxication, but there was no reason to worry, saying that six sites visited by Sturgess and Rowley before being ill had been sealed, and Public Health England advised people who might have visited suspicious sites to wash their clothes and wipe other items, and not to pick up objects such as needles.

He said, "Obviously, this incident will invoke memories of reckless assassination attempts on Sergei and Yulia Skripal." A link between the two poisonings was "clearly the main line of investigation," he said, adding: "However, we must not jump to conclusions and we must give the police the space and the necessary time to complete his work. "

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