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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was widely reported yesterday to have claimed a nerve agent was used in the Salisbury poisoning, to which Britain had access.

He claimed the chemical BZ was used in the attack, hinting evidence from a Swiss laboratory suggested Britain could have been behind it.

Citing a report from the Speiz lab dated March 27, Lavrov said the evidence suggested the nerve agent used could be in the arsenal of the United States and Britain.

Lavrov read out parts of the report that he said showed the substance had traces of the BZ agent.

But the lab cited by Mr Lavrov spoke out last night, denying their report suggested anything of the kind.

Sergey Lavrov claimed a Swiss lab had said a different chemical was used

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Mr Lavrov said: "Swiss Spiez Lab (an OPCW Authorised centre) determined that the samples from the Salisbury incident contained 3-Quinuclidinyl belzilate aka the BZ nerve agent (produced and used by US UK and other NATO countries - never by Russia or the USSR) as well as a high concentration of A-234 (novichok) in its original form, which is extremely suspicious as:

a) this agent has high volatility and couldn’t have retained its purity for over two weeks time

b) the dosage would have surely killed the Skripals”

"Based on the results of the examination, traces of the toxic chemical BZ and its precursors, related to chemical weapons of the second category in accordance with the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, were found in the samples."

He added: "If, of course, the OPCW refutes the fact of using the laboratory of Spiez, it will be interesting to listen to its explanations."

Here's what the Spiez lab said

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Spiez Laboratory, the Swiss Federal Institute for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection, denied their report cast doubt on whether novichok was used.

In a statement, the Lab said: "Only OPCW can comment this assertion. But we can repeat what we stated 10 days ago: We have no doubt that Porton Down has identified Novichock.

[Porton Down] - like Spiez - is a designated lab of the OPCW.

"The standards in verification are so rigid that one can trust the findings."

In fact, they were so keen to point out that they didn't say what the Russian Foreign Minister claims they said, they made a meme of it

Here's how Boris Johnson reacted to the claim

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And here's how Jeremy Corbyn reacted