Czech leader admits to testing Novichok

Prague: Pro- Russian Czech President Milos Zeman said the Czech Republic had tested the substance Britain says was used to poison a former Russian spy on its soil.

Zeman’s statement on Thursday countered previous claims by the Czech government rejecting Moscow’s allegations that the EU and Nato member state had produced the Novichok nerve agent that was allegedly used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter in an English city in March.

The Kremlin said the substance had been produced by the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden when denying allegations by London and its allies that Moscow was behind the March 4 incident.

“The Czech Republic produced and tested Novichok, though in a small amount, and then destroyed it,” Zeman said on Thursday.

Zeman cited a military intelligence report but acknowledged that the country’s civilian intelligence and a military history institute denied that Novichok was produced on Czech soil.

Zeman said “a paralytic poison marked A230 was tested” in the Czech Republic last November but for reasons that are unclear later cited the report as “explicitly labelling A340 as Novichok”.

The foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that Czech labs had tested substances similar to Novichok through micro-synthesis, a process which it insisted is not regarded as production under international agreements. — AFP