RETALIATING AGAINST RUSSIA

Canada expels four diplomats

Four Russian spies based in Canada have been ordered out of the country as Western governments seek to condemn the Kremlin’s alleged involvement in the poisoning of a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the expulsions Monday as the U.S. and more than a dozen European allies took similar action against more than a hundred Russian diplomats in their own countries.

The scope of the mass expulsions appears to be unprecedented since the Cold War.

British Prime Minister Theresa May claimed that Russia’s western spy network had been “dismantled.” She told Vladimir Putin that the attempt to “intimidate” Britain with the Salisbury poisonings had “spectacularly backfired” as she hailed “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history.”

And May vowed never to allow Putin’s espionage machine to be rebuilt.

President Donald Trump ordered 60 suspected Russian spies to leave the U.S. — including 12 from the United Nations in New York — while 16 EU countries and five other non-EU members also gave Russians notice to leave. At least two other EU members will follow suit Tuesday, taking the total to 24 countries.

May said the unprecedented show of solidarity after days of intense diplomacy, sent the “strongest signal” to the Kremlin that Russia “cannot continue to flout international law and threaten our security.”

The White House said Putin could no longer be in any doubt that “actions have consequences.”

A total of 114 Russian diplomats were expelled by Britain’s allies, adding to the 23 already sent home by the U.K. last week.

Russia expelled 23 British diplomats last week in response to London’s decision, and has typically adopted a tit-for-tat approach when it comes to such expulsions.

The move follows the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the British city of Salisbury on March 4 by what has been described as a military-grade nerve agent.

The two remain in critical condition in hospital. A British police officer who found the pair unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre was also hospitalized, but has since been released.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the attack on Skripal, who served as a double agent for British intelligence in the 1990s before being arrested by Russian authorities.

But Western governments have nonetheless blamed Russia for what Freeland described in a strongly worded statement as a “despicable, heinous and reckless act, potentially endangering the lives of hundreds.”

“The nerve-agent attack represents a clear threat to the rules-based international order and to the rules that were established by the international community to ensure chemical weapons would never again destroy human lives.”

The attack in Salisbury is the latest in a string of inappropriate Russian behaviour, Freeland added, including the annexation of Crimea, support for rebels in Ukraine and efforts to interfere in other countries’ elections.

The four Russians ordered out of Canada are based in Ottawa and Montreal, Freeland said, and are either intelligence officers or “have used their diplomatic status to undermine Canada’s security or interfere in our democracy.” Another three have been denied entry into Canada after being accused of similar behaviour.

Neither Freeland nor Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale offered further details, including the nature of their activities or why the Russians had been permitted to stay in Canada if they posed a threat to the country.

“The selection of the individuals is a selection that’s done with great care by the Global Affairs department in consultation with other relevant agencies across the government of Canada,” Goodale said outside the House of Commons. “And it’s done in a manner to make the point very clear to the Russian government that we are deeply concerned and we’re also very alert to the activities to be unacceptable.”

The Russian Embassy in Ottawa called the expulsions “highly deplorable and outrageous,” and accused Canada of “obediently” following the U.S. and Britain amid “baseless” allegations.

“This unfriendly move under false and biased pretext delivers yet another serious blow to RussianCanadian relations and will be met with resolve and reciprocity,” it said in a statement.

Expulsions often result in a tit-for-tat response; given that Canada has fewer spies in Russia than Russia has in Canada, “it tends to hurt Canada more than it hurts the Russians,” said University of Ottawa professor Wesley Wark, a leading authority on security and intelligence.

Prof. Anthony Glees, the director of security and intelligence studies at Buckingham University in England, said, “It is a heavy blow to the Russia intelligence-gathering. They are more on their own than they have ever been.”