USA TODAY International Edition
U.K. expels 23 Russians over attack
British PM rips Moscow’s ‘sarcasm’ after poisoning
– Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday that Britain will expel 23 Russian diplomats after Moscow failed to explain how a Russianmade nerve agent was used to poison an ex-spy and his daughter in the city of Salisbury.
The move marks the largest expulsion of diplomats from Britain since the Cold War, and May said her government will cancel all high-level bilateral contacts with Russia.
She said the use of the nerve agent against Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, amounted to an “unlawful use of force” against Britain with chemical weapons.
“(Russia’s) response has demonstrated complete disdain for the gravity of these events,” May said in a statement to Parliament.
“They have provided no credible explanation that could suggest they lost control of their nerve agent. No explanation as to how this agent came to be used in the United Kingdom; no explanation as to why Russia has an undeclared chemical weapons program in contravention of international law. Instead they have treated the use of a military grade nerve agent in Europe with sarcasm, contempt and defiance,” she said.
The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that May’s allegation of involvement in the poisoning incident “is an unprecedentedly blatant provocation, which undermines the foundations of dialogue between our countries,” the TASS news agency reported.
The diplomats, who have not been named but were described by May as “undeclared intelligence officers,” were given one week to leave.
May also revoked an invitation to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and said the British royal family would not attend the soccer World Cup that Russia is to host later this year.
“We will freeze Russian state assets wherever we have the evidence that they may be used to threaten the life or proption erty of U.K. nationals or residents,” May said.
She said she had spoken to Britain’s allies, including President Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, and that they had agreed to “cooperate closely in responding to this barbaric act.”
The Kremlin rejected British claims it was involved in the poisoning incident and said it would not accept any British ultimatum over the issue.
“Moscow’s stance is well known, London was told about Moscow’s posiLONDON through diplomatic channels: Moscow has no connection to the incident that took place in the United Kingdom,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russia media.
“Moscow won’t accept absolutely unfounded accusations against it, which are not substantiated by any evidence, and won’t accept the language of ultimatum,” he said.
The Skripals remain in critical condition in a British hospital after they were found slumped unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury, 90 miles west of London, on March 4. The pair had been on a shopping trip.
Outspoken critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin have been killed or died in mysterious circumstances, including journalists, opposition politicians and exiled tycoons, but it is not clear why the Skripals may have been targeted.
“They have treated the use of a military grade nerve agent in Europe with sarcasm, contempt and defiance.”
Theresa May British prime minister