Russia expels 23 UK diplomats in retaliatory move as spy row goes on

Russia is to expel 23 British diplomats, says Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement on Saturday. Russia would close the British Council and withdraw permission for Britain to operate its general consulate in St Petersburg.

Theresa May has warned the Kremlin that Britain will not be cowed by its decision to expel 23 British diplomats in an escalation of the dispute following the Salisbury attack, reported The Telegraph.


Responding to President Putin's decision to escalate diplomatic tensions, Mrs May told a gathering of Conservative Party members that his antics would not distract from the fact that Russia was "in flagrant breach of international law."

The Russian foreign ministry summoned the British ambassador on Saturday to inform him that in response to provocative actions of the British side and evidence-free accusations against the Russian Federation over the incident in the city of Salisbury on March 4 this year, the Russian side has taken the following retaliatory measures according to Russian news agency Tass.

Twenty-three diplomats of the British Embassy in Moscow have been declared personae non gratae and will be expelled within a week’s time.

The National Security Council would meet early next week to consider Britain’s next steps to the Russian government’s response according to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Taking into account the disparity in the number of consulates of the two countries, Russia withdraws permission to open the British Consulate General in St. Petersburg. Related procedures will be carried out in accordance with international law. Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in the Russian Federation, it will be dissolved," the statement said.

“We have no dispute with the Russian people and a very large part of the work of my embassy here in Russia has been, is, to promote those links, those mutually productive links, between Russia and the United Kingdom, but we will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort,” Mr. Bristow, the British ambassador to Russia, told journalists in front of the imposing foreign ministry building in Moscow.

The Guardian reported that the UK had ready the second phase of possible measures in place if Moscow escalated such comebacks again, said the UK. The most obvious step is to expel the Russian ambassador to Britain who is probably coming to the end of his term, but any such expulsion could lead to Moscow proposing an alternative too.

Tass quoted Russian ministry as saying, "The British side has been warned that if more unfriendly actions against Russia follow, the Russian side reserves the right of taking other retaliation measures".

On March 4, ex-Colonel Sergey Skripal of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate convicted for spying for the United Kingdom, and his daughter Yulia were exposed to a nerve agent. They were found unconscious on a bench near a shopping center in Salisbury.

On March 12, British Prime Minister Theresa May said it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack on Skripal and his daughter. Britain says the substance used in the attack is a Novichok nerve agent, developed in the Soviet Union. PM accused Russia of "an unlawful use of force" against her country. Later she announced that London would expel 23 Russian diplomats and take other measures against Moscow.

The source of the nerve agent, which Britain says is Soviet-made novichok, is unclear, as is the way it was administered. Russia has demanded that Britain share samples collected by investigators.