Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal were poisoned in Salisbury

For use with the media

1. On Sunday 4 March, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal were poisoned in Salisbury, and remain in a critical condition.

2. The UK has concluded that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with the military-grade "Novichok" nerve agent, a weapon type developed by Russia.

3. This is based on the positive identification of the "Novichok" nerve agent by experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, together with our assessment of Russia"s record of state assassinations, and its view of defectors as a legitimate target.

4. The Foreign Secretary summoned the Russian Ambassador in London on 12 March, and made clear that this leaves only two possible scenarios. Either the Russian state has attempted murder on British soil using a chemical weapon, or Russia has lost control of its stockpile of nerve agents.

5. The Foreign Secretary demanded that Russia immediately explain to the UK and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons how it came to lose control of its stockpile. And stated that it must provide full and complete disclosure of the Novichok programme to the OPCW.

6. If the Russian Government does not do so, we must conclude that this was a case of state-sponsored attempted murder on British soil, using a banned weapon in breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention and international law.

7. In the absence of any satisfactory response, the British Government must regard it as Russia"s most serious violation against the territory of the United Kingdom since the murder of Litvinenko. A Police Officer who was also exposed to the attack remains seriously ill and a total of 24 people have received hospital treatment. Specialist military troops in the hundreds have been deployed to assist in the investigation and security of the sites of contamination.

Pattern of Behaviour

8. This appalling, reckless crime could equally have affected citizens of your country, should they have happened to be in the vicinity. This was not a "spy on spy" issue; it was an attack by one state on another using a prohibited chemical weapon, applied indiscriminately.

9. We will make our own bilateral response, comprising robust and appropriate measures in response in line with our democratic values and rule of law. But this is not just a bilateral matter. Coordinated action from our Allies and Partners will be vital. The poisoning of Sergey and Yulia Skripal was part of an established pattern of Russian action, through which Russia is systematically dismantling the rules based international order. Russia"s escalatory actions pose a dire threat to the law-abiding international community.

10. In Syria, appalling destruction has been visited on the civilian population by the Russian sponsored Asad regime, and the Russian military itself. Russia has also changed borders by force in Europe for the first time since WW2 with their illegal annexation of Crimea. Russia"s actions in Salisbury represent the first use of nerve agent in Europe since 1945. This is in addition to the criminal activities of the Russian state under Putin in cyberspace and elsewhere. We must respond collectively to reassure our citizens that hostile acts by Russia against our countries, our interests and our values will not be tolerated. Collective action is the one thing which Putin will not expect, and will fear.--0--