Julie Bishop has placed Australia firmly in Britain’s corner in the escalating row with Russia over the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy on UK soil.

The British prime minister, Theresa May, expelled 23 Russian diplomats, among other measures, after saying the Russian state was to blame for the 4 March poison attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, which has left both in a critical condition.

Russia retaliated overnight, expelling British diplomats. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the attack.

UK's claims questioned: doubts voiced about source of Salisbury novichok Read more

Bishop said Australia would support the UK in any move to send weapons inspectors into Russia to view its program, given Russia’s 1997 signature on the chemical weapons convention.

“Under the chemical weapons convention, one state that suspects another state of having illegal chemical weapons can seek these inspections and Britain certainly has the right to do that, and they are aware that we would support them, should they go down that path,” Bishop told the ABC.



“This is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue. One cannot have a permanent member of the security council, or indeed any country anywhere, any time, deploying illegal chemical weapons, and so clearly Britain is within its rights to take action, as it has done with expelling diplomats.

“Russia typically retaliates. But I have been in constant communication with [UK] foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Australia is most certainly considering what other options might be available.”

May has spoken in UK parliament to condemn Russia for the attack.

“On Monday I set out that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a Novichok: a military grade nerve agent developed by Russia,” she told MPs in a statement last week.



“Based on this capability, combined with their record of conducting state sponsored assassinations – including against former intelligence officers whom they regard as legitimate targets – the UK government concluded it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for this reckless and despicable act.

“And there were only two plausible explanations.

“Either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country.



“Or conceivably, the Russian government could have lost control of a military-grade nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others.”

On Sunday, Bishop echoed May’s language and said Australia also believed Russia was either behind the attack or had lost control of its chemical weapons program.

“Russia is a party to the chemical weapons convention and under that chemical weapons convention, all chemical weapons should have been declared and it would appear that this nerve agent has not been declared,” she said.

Quick guide How hard is it to make a nerve agent? Show Hide Nerve agents are not hard to make in principle, but in practice it takes specialised facilities and training to mix the substances safely. The raw materials themselves are inexpensive and generally not hard to obtain, but the lethality of the agents means they tend to be manufactured in dedicated labs. The main five nerve agents are tabun, which is the easiest to make, sarin, soman, GF and VX. The latter was used to kill Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, at Kuala Lumpur airport last year. VX is particularly stable and can remain on clothing, furniture and the ground for a long time without proper decontamination. All pure nerve agents are colourless organophosphorus liquids which, after they were discovered to be highly poisonous in the 1930s, became the dominant chemical weapons of the second world war. Once made, the substances are easy to disperse, highly toxic, and have rapid effects. Most are absorbed swiftly through the skin or inhaled, but they can also be added to food and drink. The agents take their toll on the body by disrupting electrical signals throughout the nervous system and the effects are fast and dramatic. Victims find it increasingly hard to breathe. Their lungs produce more mucus which can make them cough and foam at the mouth. They sweat, their pupils constrict, and their eyes run. The effects on the digestive system trigger vomiting. Meanwhile the muscles convulse. Many of those affected will wet themselves and lose control of their bowels. At high doses, failure of the nerves and muscles of the respiratory system can kill before other symptoms have time to develop. There are antidotes for nerve agents, such as oxime and atropine, which are particularly effective against VX and sarin, but they should be given soon after exposure to be effective.

“In fact, Russia’s program, developing this nerve agent, has not been declared. So there are obligations on Russia to get rid of any chemical weapons and most certainly it should have declared what it was doing with this program.

“There is no other explanation, no other plausible explanation, as to where this nerve agent came from. Either Russia was behind the attempted assassination of it has lost control of this previously undisclosed stockpile of nerve agent.”

Russians are voting in the presidential election on Sunday, which is expected to return Vladimir Putin to power for a further six years.