60 expelled Russian diplomats reach home

MOSCOW: Russian diplomats expelled from the United States arrived in Moscow on Sunday, with post-Cold War tensions soaring in the wake of a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

Another salvo in the spat was fired when Russia warned its nationals to think twice before travelling to Britain, where it said they could be singled out for harassment.

By expelling 60 Russian diplomats, the US joined a score of Britain’s allies in responding to the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury on March 4.

Britain has said it is “highly likely” that Russia was responsible for the attack using the Sovietdesigned Novichok nerve agent, while Moscow calls the allegations unsubstantiated anti-Russian propoganda.

Two planes arrived at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on Sunday, bringing home a total of 171 people -- the 60 diplomats and their families -- from Washington and New York.

Russian television showed passengers disembarking from a government plane while several buses waited to pick them up.

The US alleged the 60 diplomats were “spies” and sent them home from posts around the country and at the Russian mission to the United Nations, as well as closing Russia’s consulate in Seattle.

Moscow responded by sending home 60 US diplomats and closing Washington’s consulate in Saint Petersburg on Saturday.

Washington has since said Russia is free to apply to accredit more diplomats to replace those expelled. AFP