BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the immediate priority of European Union leaders discussing the nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy in Britain would not be to discuss a potential boycott of the soccer World Cup in Russia.

Ahead of an EU leaders’ summit at which the poison attack will be discussed, Merkel said the focus of discussions would be the need to obtain clarity on what had happened in the attack, in which the spy, his daughter and a policeman were hurt.

Her Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven, speaking at the same joint press conference on Friday, said he agreed Russia needed to provide clarity regarding the attack.