UK calls for ‘long-term’ response vs Russia

LONDON (Reuters) — British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for a “long-term response” by the West to the security threat from Russia as NATO followed member states in expelling Russian diplomats over the poisoning of a double agent in England.

In the most sweeping such action against Moscow since the height of the Cold War, the United States and European Union members expelled scores of Russian diplomats in action against the Kremlin for the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter which they have blamed on Russia.

Russia, which denies any part in the March 4 attack on the Skripals, said the West’s action is a “provocative gesture” and has said it will respond.

The coordinated action among Western allies is seen as a huge diplomatic coup for May whose country is preparing to exit the EU bloc and may have had doubts about how much support she could count on.

Speaking to senior Cabinet members in London on Tuesday, May said countries had acted against Russia not just out of solidarity but because they recognized the threat it posed.

“Yesterday was a significant moment in our response to this reckless act of aggression, but there is still more to be done as we work with international partners on a long-term response to the challenge posed by Russia,” her spokesman reported May as saying.

The US-led NATO alliance followed suit announcing on Tuesday it was expelling seven diplomats from Russia’s mission at alliance headquarters in Brussels and blocking the appointment of three others, thus cutting the size of the mission to 20 people from 30.

Russia expressed confidence that the Philippines will not join the countries that have expelled Russian diplomats over the poisoning of a spy in Britain.

“We are sure that the Philippines will act reasonably, exercise political wisdom and will not act in the interests of a few Western countries,” Natalia Naumova, press attache of the Russian embassy in Manila, told The Star yesterday. — Pia Lee-Brago