US agrees Russia responsible for spy poisoning in UK: White House

The US on Thursday backed its closest ally the UK in a "reckless" nerve agent attack on a former spy and his daughter, saying it shares the British assessment that Russia is responsible for the "abhorrent" incident. It also said that the UK's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation for the alleged attack was a "just response".

"The US stands in solidarity with its closest ally, the UK. The US shares the UK's assessment that Russia is responsible for the reckless nerve agent attack on a British citizen and his daughter, and we support the UK's decision to expel Russian diplomats as a just response," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday expelled 23 Russian diplomats - in the "single biggest expulsion" in more than 30 years - and suspended high-level bilateral contacts, saying Moscow was "culpable" of the nerve agent attack, reports PTI.

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found collapsed after being poisoned last week.

Russia denies its involvement in the attempted murder. Sanders said the attack fits into a pattern of behaviour in which

Russia "disregards the international rules-based order, undermines the sovereignty and security of countries worldwide, and attempts to subvert and discredit Western democratic institutions and processes".

"The US is working together with our allies and partners to ensure that this kind of abhorrent attack does not happen again," she said.

House Democratic Whip Steny H Hoyer said Russia's alleged attacks against dissidents on British soil were "unconscionable" and violate international law. "I stand in strong solidarity

with Prime Minister May and the British government as they take appropriate retaliatory action today," he said.

"In recent years, Vladimir Putin's Russia has supported violent separatism in Ukraine and Georgia, propped up the Assad regime in Syria, threatened Europe's energy supplies, and tried to hack elections in our country and others. Russian aggression must be met with strength and resolve," Hoyer said. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the US

should lead a conversation with their NATO allies about a collective response to the act and future acts of aggression.

"Our ally took a strong step today but this likely won't be the last time that Russia tries to silence those who publicly condemn Putin's regime from Western soil," said Sasse.

"Whether it's the consideration of similar Russian expulsions from NATO nations.. or freezing more Russian assets, we ought to make it inescapably clear to Russia that its shadow war will meet a coordinated response," he said.