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Thursday, March 15, 2018, 10:04
Britain to expel 23 Russian diplomats over spy poisoning row
By Agencies
Thursday, March 15, 2018, 10:04 By Agencies

A police cordon remains at The Maltings shopping center in Salisbury, southern England, on March 12, 2018, where a man and woman were found critically ill on March 4, after being apparently poisoned with what was later identified as a nerve agent. (ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP)

MOSCOW/GENEVA/LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May announced measures Wednesday against Russia over its failure to respond to a demand by the British government to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent was used in a recent attack in Salisbury.

Former spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, are in a critical condition in hospital after being exposed to a nerve agent earlier this month.

Theresa May said Britain will not break off diplomatic relations with Russia, but all high-level bilateral contacts will be canceled

The Russian government has denied any involvement in the attack, and has threatened reprisals against Britain if measures are taken by the British government.

May announced that 23 Russian diplomats will be expelled from Britain and told to leave within a week. She said it is the biggest expulsion from Britain in 30 years.

The prime minister said Britain will not break off diplomatic relations with Russia, but all high-level bilateral contacts will be canceled.

She said no government ministers or members of the Royal family will attend the World Cup being hosted by Russia. 

Britain also called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the matter, the British Foreign Office said.     

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Moscow is in no way connected to the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter in Britain, adding that the accusations against Russia are groundless. 

Russia remains open to cooperating with the British investigation into the case.

"The council and the United Nations General Assembly have decried Russia’s violations of international law with alarming regularity. Its reckless behavior is an affront to all this body stands for," British Ambassador Julian Braithwaite told the Geneva forum.

Britain told the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday that the use of a military grade nerve agent in an attempt to kill a former Russian spy was a flagrant breach of international law and should serve as a warning to the international community.

Russia, which denies any involvement, earlier said May's allegations were politically motivated. 

"Moscow will not respond to London’s ultimatum until it receives samples of the chemical substance," Russia's embassy in London said. "Any threat to take punitive measures against Russia will meet with a response."

ALSO READ: Moscow wants to examine nerve agent used in spy poisoning

A video grab taken from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament's Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) shows Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May delivering a statement to members of parliament in the House of Commons on the nerve agent attack against Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury last week on March 12, 2018. British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday it was "highly likely" that Moscow was behind the poisoning of a former double agent. (PHOTO / AFP)

Russia is due to hold a presidential election on Sunday, in which Vladimir Putin is expected to coast to a fourth term in the Kremlin. 

US President Donald Trump told May by telephone that Russia "must provide unambiguous answers regarding how this chemical weapon, developed in Russia, came to be used in the United Kingdom," the White House said.

‘MILITARY-GRADE NERVE AGENT’

Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found slumped unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in the genteel southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. They have been in a critical condition in hospital ever since.

Scientists at Britain's military research laboratory at Porton Down identified the poison as a military-grade nerve agent from a group of chemicals known as Novichok, which was first developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.

READ MORE: UK lawmaker says spy poisoning looks to be 'state-sponsored'

May said that either the Russian state had poisoned Skripal, a former officer with Russia's GRU military intelligence, or that Russia had somehow lost control of its chemical weapons.

Putin said last year that it had destroyed its last stockpiles of such weapons.

Skripal betrayed dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence before being arrested in Moscow and later jailed in 2006. He was released under a spy swap deal in 2010 and took refuge in Britain.

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