Chemical arms group agrees to ban Salisbury attack poison: diplomats

The world's chemical weapons agency on Monday agreed to add Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, used in last year's Salisbury attack against a former Russian agent, to its list of banned substances, diplomats said Monday.

A joint proposal by Canada, the Netherlands and the United States was adopted by the 41-member executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, they said.

London blamed Moscow for the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the city of Salisbury, and said Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, was used.

The OPCW executive council agreed to add two families of highly toxic chemicals, including the agent used in Salisbury, to the Chemical Weapons Convention, tweeted Sabine Nolke, Canada's envoy to the OPCW.

"Russia dissociated itself from consensus but did not break. Thanks to all states who supported!" she said.

Member states now have 90 days to object before Novichok is formally added to the list, she said.

The Dutch foreign ministry also confirmed the decision.

British ambassador Peter Wilson said it was a "good start to the OPCW year."