German media are reporting that the country's foreign intelligence service secured a sample of the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok in the 1990s and passed on its knowledge to partners including Britain and the U.S.

Britain says an attack earlier this year on a former Russian spy and his daughter was carried out using Novichok, and blames Russia. German newspapers Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit and broadcasters WDR and NDR said in a joint report Thursday that the West's knowledge of the substance stems largely from a sample obtained by Germany's BND agency in the 1990s.

The report, which cited unidentified people involved in the operation, said the BND obtained the sample from a Russian scientist and Germany then had it analyzed at a Swedish lab.

The BND refused to comment.