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Russia Expels 23 British Diplomats, Escalating Row Over Ex-Spy’s Poisoning Russia Expels 23 British Diplomats, Escalating Row Over Ex-Spy’s Poisoning
(35 minutes later)
MOSCOW — Russia on Saturday ordered 23 British diplomats to leave the country within a week, escalating a diplomatic row after a former spy and his daughter were poisoned on British soil.MOSCOW — Russia on Saturday ordered 23 British diplomats to leave the country within a week, escalating a diplomatic row after a former spy and his daughter were poisoned on British soil.
The order came days after Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain expelled the same number of Russian diplomats and called off high-level contacts between the two governments.The order came days after Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain expelled the same number of Russian diplomats and called off high-level contacts between the two governments.
The Russians’ actions — which included an order to shut the British Council, a cultural and educational organization, in Russia and to revoke permission for the British consulate general in St. Petersburg — came after the British ambassador, Laurie Bristow, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Saturday morning. The Russians also ordered the closing of the British Council, a cultural and educational organization in Russia, and revoked permission for the British consulate general in St. Petersburg.
The announcement came after the British ambassador, Laurie Bristow, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Saturday morning.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry cast Russia as the aggrieved party. The statement asserted Russia was acting “in response to the unfounded accusation against the Russian Federation for what happened in Salisbury.”
It added, “The British side is warned that, in the case of further actions of an unfriendly character toward Russia, the Russian side reserves the right to take other answering measures.”
The spy, Sergei V. Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, were found unresponsive on a park bench in the small city of Salisbury, England, after being attacked. British officials said a lethal nerve agent created in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and ‘80s had been used to poison them.
The Kremlin has flatly denied any involvement in the attack, even as state television announcers have pointedly referred to the poisoning as a warning to traitors.
The case has roiled relations between the two countries, with Britain announcing that in addition to other measures, no ministers or members of the royal family would attend the World Cup hosted by Russia this summer.