robinfred
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According to the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, the use of chemical weapons is "unacceptable". He also stressed the need to respect the probe into an attack that has been widely blamed on Moscow. "More than anything, the fact-finding process is important," Mr Kono told a news conference.
Russia has been widely blamed for a nerve agent attack in England on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, in the first known offensive use of a nerve toxin in Europe since World War II.
"If the British government continues to take anti-Russian measures, we will hit back under the principle of reciprocity," added Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The attack poisoned Russia's ties with Western countries. But Japan has refrained from pointing fingers. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Monday: "What is most important is to uncover the truth."
He spoke to British counterpart Theresa May by phone a day later. Japan's Foreign Ministry said he called the attack an "outrage" and said the perpetrators ought to be severely punished. But he added his expectations of an early clarification of facts.
Britain said only Russia would have the capability and motive to instigate such an attack, and the nerve agent Novichok was developed by the former Soviet Union. It expelled 23 Russian diplomats, and cut off high-level contacts.
