THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Russia’s call for a joint inquiry to be held into the poisoning of a former Russian double agent in England failed on Wednesday when it was outvoted 15-6 at a meeting of the global chemical weapons watchdog. Russian President Putin said he hopes the upcoming UN chemical watchdog meeting will put to rest the UK's accusations against Russia in the Skripal poisoning case, adding that 20 other countries could produce the nerve agent used.Putin said in Ankara, where he held a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.In a rare comment on the case, in which the UK is accusing Moscow of poisoning former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a military-grade nerve agent, Putin said he was baffled by how quickly the incident turned into a full-blown attack on Russia. Boris Johnson branded the bid “ludicrous” and said Russia’s goal was to “obscure the truth and confuse the public.”

The Foreign Secretary, who is under pressure for wrongly claiming Porton Down scientists had pointed the finger at Russia for the attack, said countries around the world "continue to share our assessment" of the incident. He said: "The purpose of Russia's ludicrous proposal at The Hague was clear - to undermine the independent, impartial work of the international chemical weapons watchdog. “Russia has had one goal in mind since the attempted murders on UK soil through the use of a military-grade chemical weapon - to obscure the truth and confuse the public,” he said in a statement. “It shows that many countries around the world continue to share our assessment of what happened in Salisbury and are determined to stand up to Russia’s behaviour.”

In a vote at OPCW, six of the 41 members backed Russia while 15 voted against, 17 abstained, two were absent, and one was not entitled to vote. RUSSIA CALL TO SECURITY COUNCIL

Separately on Wednesday, Russia requested a public meeting of the United Nations Security Council on April 5 to discuss the British accusations against Moscow, Russian U.N.
At a meeting of the OPCW, 17 of the 41 countries abstain from a vote on not allowing Russia to participate in the inquiry. 15 countries vote in favour and six against. Three countries were not present at the meeting.