Russia expels 23 British diplomats in spy poisoning row

Moscow: Russia said Saturday it would expel 23 British diplomats and close a British consulate following London's "provocative" measures over the poisoning of a double agent that has triggered a fierce diplomatic row. Moscow also said it would halt the activities of the British Council in Russia in a tough series of retaliatory measures announced after it summoned British ambassador Laurie Bristow. Prime Minister Theresa May responded defiantly to the tit-for-tat move, which followed Britain's expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of high-level contacts earlier this week. She told a forum of her Conservative Party that Britain had "anticipated a response of this kind" and that it "will consider our next steps in the coming days, alongside our allies and partners". She also repeated accusations made by Britain to the United Nations that the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury on March 4 was a "flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention." The Russian response was announced on the eve of a presidential election which is expected to hand Vladimir Putin a fourth term in the Kremlin, but which comes as the country appears increasingly isolated. The crisis erupted after the Skripals were exposed to a Soviet-designed military grade nerve agent, leaving them in critical condition. London and its allies have blamed Moscow for the attack and on Friday, Britain directly implicated Putin himself, unleashing the Kremlin's fury. "Twenty three diplomatic staff at the British embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and to be expelled within a week," a foreign ministry statement said. - AFP