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russian diplomats expelled

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The US and Europe are expelling dozens of Russian diplomats in a co-ordinated response to the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK.

According to experts, it is the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history.

More than 20 countries have aligned with the UK, expelling more than 100 diplomats.

The US is expelling 60 Russian diplomats, while the EU has announced the expulsion of 33 envoys. Other European countries will expel another 23.

President of the European Council Donald Tusk said the EU states had decided to expel Russian diplomats as a direct result of a meeting, held last week about the Salisbury poisoning.

“Additional measures, including further expulsions within this common EU framework are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks,” he said.

The state department said in a statement: “On March 4, Russia used a military-grade nerve agent to attempt to murder a British citizen and his daughter in Salisbury.

“This attack on our Ally the United Kingdom put countless innocent lives at risk and resulted in serious injury to three people, including a police officer.”

UK Expels 23 Russian Diplomats over Chemical Attack on Sergei Skripal

Meanwhile, Russia vowed to retaliate to the “provocative gesture”.

It denies any role in the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury, southern England. Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

The Russian foreign ministry said the moves demonstrated a continuation of a “confrontational path”.

Earlier this month, the UK announced it was expelling 23 Russian diplomats.

On March 26, various countries announced they were making the same move in solidarity.

Iceland has also announced it is suspending high-level dialogue with Russian authorities, and its leaders will not attend the World Cup, which starts in Russia in June.

The UK said earlier this month it would not send ministers or members of the Royal Family to the football tournament.

EU countries that have said they have no intention of expelling diplomats include Austria, Greece and Portugal, although all have said they support the UK and condemn the poisoning.

The US called the attack an “outrageous violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and breach of international law”.

The US is expelling 48 envoys at the Russian embassy in Washington and 12 more at the UN in New York. It will also order the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle.

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British PM Theresa May has announced that the UK will expel 23 Russian diplomats after Moscow refused to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent was used on former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

She said the diplomats, who have a week to leave, were identified as “undeclared intelligence officers”.

Theresa May also revoked an invitation to Russia’s foreign minister, and said the Royal Family would not attend the FIFA World Cup in Russia later this year.

Moscow denies attempted murder and says it will respond appropriately.

Addressing the UN Security Council, the UK said Russia had used “a weapon so horrific that it is banned in war”.

UK’s deputy UN ambassador, Jonathan Allen, accused Russia of breaking its obligations under the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

He said he had heard the threats from Russia but that the UK would not be deterred.

Image source Wikipedia

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In response Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, denied his country’s involvement in the attack and demanded “material proof” from Britain to support its charge.

The US ambassador Nikki Haley said Washington stood in “absolute solidarity” with the UK, citing the “special relationship” between the two countries.

The mass expulsion is the largest since 31 were ordered out in 1985 after double agent Oleg Gordievsky defected.

Former spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, 33, remain critically ill in hospital after being found slumped on a bench on March 4.

Russia refused to meet Theresa May’s midnight deadline to co-operate in the case, prompting her to announce a series of measures intended to send a “clear message” to Russia: expelling 23 diplomats; increasing checks on private flights, customs and freight; freezing Russian state assets where there is evidence they may be used to threaten the life or property of UK nationals or residents; ministers and the Royal Family boycotting the FIFA World Cup in Russia later this year; suspending all planned high-level bilateral contacts between the UK and Russia and planning to consider new laws to increase defenses against “hostile state activity”.

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