Russia expels more British diplomats as the spy poisoning row rumbles on
THE Russian foreign ministry has ordered Britain to reduce the number of diplomats in Moscow down to the same amount that Russia has in London as the row over the attempted assassination of a Russian spy in Salisbury continues.
The UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats in the wake of the poisoning of Sergei Skripal (66) and his daughter Yulia with the nerve agent Novichok.
A number of British allies have also ejected Russian diplomats in a show of solidarity following the attack.
So far, more than 150 Russian diplomats, some of whom are suspected spies, have been ordered to return home by countries including the United States, Germany, France, Canada and Ireland.
Yesterday the Irish Government confirmed that Russia has retaliated against its move, and has expelled an Irish diplomat from Moscow.
A woman loads a box into a car outside the US Consulate in Saint Petersburg on March 30
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Ireland was showing solidarity with the UK in the wake of the Salisbury chemical attack.
On Friday, deputy premier and foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney confirmed Russia had reacted in kind.
A spokesman for Tanaiste Mr Coveney said: “There is no justification for this expulsion. Our
staff do not engage in activities which are incompatible with their diplomatic status. This decision to expel an Irish diplomat is regrettable.”
The Russian Embassy said yesterday that it “insists” on the right to see Ms Skripal (33) after it emerged on Thursday that she was improving rapidly.
She spent three weeks in a
critical condition after being exposed to Novichok on March 4.
Ms Skripal’s father remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
The tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions were launched by Russia on Thursday.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would retaliate by expelling the same number of diplomats that each country had ejected.
The ministry said it summoned the British ambassador on Friday following the “provocative and unsubstantiated actions by Britain, which instigated the expulsion of Russian diplomats from various nations for no reason”.
The British Government was given 30 days to reduce its diplomatic personnel to the same number of diplomats that Russia has stationed in the UK.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “It’s regrettable but in light of Russia’s previous behaviour, we anticipated a response. However, this doesn’t change the facts of the matter. The attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable. Russia is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention and actions by countries around the world have demonstrated the depth of international concern.”