Russian president Vladimir Putin
The Russian foreign ministry said staff from the UK's Moscow embassy would be expelled within a week.
It also said it would close the British Council in Russia, which
promotes cultural ties between the nations, and the British Consulate in
St Petersburg.
The move comes in response to Britain's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.
They were ordered to leave over the incident on 4 March which the UK government has blamed on Russia - but which Russia denies.
Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal,
33, remain critically ill in hospital, after they were found unconscious
on a bench in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
The UK government says they were poisoned with a nerve agent of a
type developed by Russia called Novichok, and PM Theresa May has said
she believes Moscow is "culpable".
On Friday, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it was
"overwhelmingly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin had
ordered the nerve agent attack.
Responding, Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the accusations were "shocking and unforgivable".
Britain's ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow, was summoned to
Russia's foreign ministry on Saturday and was handed Russia's response
to the UK's sanctions.
Mr Bristow, after leaving the meeting, said that the UK had no
quarrel with the Russian people and would "always do what is necessary
to defend ourselves".
0 comments:
Post a Comment