Britain says it is Novichok, a class of powerful nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union toward the end of the Cold War. Tests to independently verify the British findings are expected to take at least two weeks, Britain’s Foreign Office said. Vladimir Chizhov, Moscow’s EU ambassador, said Russia has no chemical weapons stockpiles and was not behind the poisoning. Western powers see the poisoning of the Skripals as the latest sign of increasingly aggressive Russian interference in foreign countries. Critics say U.K. authorities have been slow to investigate the origins of the wealth invested in London’s financial district and property market.

Source: National Post March 18, 2018 09:30 UTC