Russia has expelled diplomats from 23 countries in retaliation against the West in an escalating spy row, in the biggest wave of tit-for-tat expulsions in recent memory.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned the heads of missions from 23 countries to tell them that some of their diplomats had to leave.
France, Germany, Canada and Poland each said that Russia was expelling four of their diplomats.
Photo: EPA
Other countries including Ukraine, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania and Norway were also told to pull their envoys.
Russia yesterday also said that Britain had to reduce its diplomatic staff by more than another 50 people.
The moves came in retaliation for the coordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats by Britain and its allies over a nerve agent attack against former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the English city of Salisbury on March 4.
“This is certainly not a surprise,” Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok said through a spokeswoman, referring to Moscow’s expulsion of two of the country’s diplomats.
Britain has said it is “highly likely” that Russia was responsible for the Skripal attack using the Novichok nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, but Russia has denied any involvement.
After the poisoning, Britain started the global response by announcing it would expel 23 Russian diplomats, suspend high-level diplomatic contact with Moscow and not send any members of its royal family to the World Cup to be hosted by Russia this summer.
Russia responded by closing a British consulate in St Petersburg and the British Council educational and cultural organization.
In further measures against the UK, the Russian foreign ministry gave Britain a month to cut the number of diplomatic staff in Russia to the same number Russia has in Britain, a move London called “regrettable.”
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