Russia’s government is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack.
The Latest on the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal in Britain (all times local):
12:25 p.m.
Britain’s ambassador to Russia says the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain was an attack on international values.
Ambassador Laurie Bristow spoke Saturday after being called to the Russian Foreign Ministry to be informed that Russia will expel 23 diplomats, a tit-for-tat retaliation to Britain’s announcement this week that 23 Russians would be expelled.
« We will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort, which is an attack not only on the United Kingdom, but upon the international rules-based system on which all countries, including Russia, depend for their safety and security, » Bristow told reporters.
« This crisis has arisen as a result of an appalling attack in the United Kingdom, the attempted murder of two people, using a chemical weapon developed in Russia and not declared by Russia at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as Russia was and is obliged to do under the Chemical Weapons Convention, » he said.
Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain in critical condition after the March 4 attack.
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11:30 a.m.
Russia’s government is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it is also ordering the closure of the British Council in Russia and ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St. Petersburg.
It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week.
The statement said the government could take further measures if Britain takes any more « unfriendly » moves toward Russia.
British Prime Minister Theresa May this week expelled 23 Russian diplomats and severed high-level contacts over the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. They remain in critical condition in hospital.
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10:20 a.m.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the British ambassador to Russia for talks in a heightening dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.
Russia is expected to announce the expulsion of some British diplomats in a retaliatory measure. British Prime Minister Theresa May this week ordered 23 Russian diplomats expelled as part of measures to punish Russia over the March 4 poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury.
British Ambassador Laurie Bristow is expected at the Russian Foreign Ministry late Saturday morning.
Britain’s foreign secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning. Putin’s spokesman denounced the claim.
