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sergei skripal poisoning

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Russia has decided to expel 60 American diplomats and to close the St Petersburg consulate in a tit-for-tat response to US action over Sergei Skripal poisoning case in the UK.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said other countries that expelled Russians could expect a “symmetrical” response.

The move comes amid a row over the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK.

The White House said Russia’s move to expel its diplomats had been “not unanticipated”.

It said in a statement that the move marked “a further deterioration in the United States-Russia relationship”.

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the city of Salisbury on March 4, and the UK government has blamed Russia for the attack and decided to expel 23 Russian diplomats.

Russia has vehemently denied any role in the attack. Sergei Skripal remains in a critical but stable condition. Yulia Skripal’s condition is said to be improving.

Following the attack, more than 20 countries have expelled Russian envoys in solidarity with the UK. Among them is the US, which earlier this week ordered 60 diplomats to leave and closed the Russian consulate general in Seattle.

Russia declared 58 US diplomats in Moscow and two in Yekaterinburg to be “personae non gratae”.

Image source Wikimedia

US Expels 60 Russian Diplomats and Closes Seattle Consulate

UK Expels 23 Russian Diplomats over Chemical Attack on Sergei Skripal

Sergei Lavrov said US ambassador Jon Huntsman had been informed of the “retaliatory measures”.

Later, a state department spokeswoman said the US reserved the right to take further action.

Sergei Lavrov also accused Britain of “forcing everyone to follow an anti-Russian course”.

He said Moscow was responding to “absolutely unacceptable actions that are taken against us under very harsh pressure from the United States and Britain under the pretext of the so-called Skripal case”.

Sergei Lavrov reiterated Russian calls for consular access to Yulia Skripal – a Russian citizen.

Russia, he said, was also seeking a meeting with leaders of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to “establish the truth”.

Following the incident in Salisbury, British PM Theresa May announced a series of sanctions, including the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats alleged to be intelligence agents.

Russia responded by expelling an equal number of UK diplomats and closing the country’s British Council.

Then – in what has been cited as the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history – more than 20 governments expelled diplomats in their countries.

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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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